Update on Helicobacter pylori Epidemiology, Diagnosis and Treatment in Iran

Helicobacter pylori infection contributes to the development of diverse gastrointestinal and extra- gastrointestinal manifestation while many are asymptotic.It is estimated that more than half of world population are infected with H. pylori. Iran is a country with a high rate of H. pylori infection and different parts of Iran have different prevalence rates of H. pylori infection ranging from 35% to 90% based on health status, age, ethnic and location of studied population. Effective management of H. pylori infections in term of diagnosis and treatment is a very important issue,as any failure in patient management may leads to acatastrophic outcome such as gastric cancer. There are several diagnostic tools for detection of H. pylori infection which each offers different sensitivity and specificity considering type of specimens and patient condition. Thereby selection of appropriate laboratory test is very important in diagnosis or follow up of H. pylori infected patients. There are many articles published over the last decade on H. pylori treatment and antibiotic susceptibility in Iran and region. the most ideal option for effective treatment of H. pylori is to treat according to the results of culture and susceptibility tests. However, culture is not easily available.Empirically, there are several treatment regimens for H. pylori infection, however, unfortunately, there is an ascending trend in H. pylori resistance rate against commonly used antibioticsmainly due to overuse of these antibiotics which has made the treatment of H. pylori infection very sophisticate and challenging. Thereby beside to appropriate use of antibiotics, seeking for alternative treatment options is very crucial. Since the prevalence, appropriate diagnostic tools, and antibiotic susceptibility status of H. pylori variesin different region based on socioeconomicalconditions, public health and host factors, as well as microbial factors, thereby collection and analysis of regularly updated information regarding to epidemiology, diagnosis and treatment of H. pylori is required for any infection control policy and managementapproach either at local or national level.

کلیدواژه ها:

Helicobacter pylori ، Epidemiology ، Diagnosis ، Treatment ، Iran