A cross-sectional Study of H. pylori Bacteria Among Peptic Ulcer Patients in Tarhouna and Emsllatah Cities
Keywords:
Peptic ulcer, H.pylori, prevalence of infection, OccurrenceAbstract
The prevalence of H. pylori infection in Tarhuna and Emsllatah cities is the main focus of this study, which was carried out between March and June 2025. Finding associated risk factors is another goal. Participants with gastric ulcers provided 450 samples in total, including stool samples to look for bacteria and blood samples to detect IgG antibodies. The Immuno Chromatography test cartridge was one of the diagnostic tools used. Personal interviews and the completion of a specially created questionnaire were also used in the data collection process. SPSS version 22 was then used for data analysis. In the blood and stool samples, 335 out of 450 participants (74.4%) tested positive for Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori), indicating a high prevalence of the infection. Gender, age, weight, and the type and location of housing are risk factors that affect this prevalence. Of the participants, 25.6% tested negative for the infection, with 91.1% having a diagnosis of peptic ulcer disease and 8.9% having non-peptic ulcers. The conclusion underlined the significant correlation between ulcer recurrence and psychological stress, gender, and the length of the injury. Longer injury durations increase recurrence likelihood, while psychological stress shows a weaker connection to lower recurrence rates. Gender has a weak yet significant effect, whereas age, type of residence, and smoking do not significantly influence recurrence rates.
References
Abdu, R. (2025) 'Chronic Helicobacter pylori infection and peptic ulcer complications: A clinical review', Journal of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, 40(3), pp. 250-262. doi: 10.1002/jgh.2501
Ahmed, F., Hassan, M. and El-Tayeb, R. (2024) 'Urban-rural disparities in Helicobacter pylori prevalence in North Africa', BMC Infectious Diseases, 24(1), p. 112. doi: 10.1186/s12879-024-0567-9
Al-Farjany, H., Al-Khalifa, M. and Youssef, A. (2024) 'Epidemiology of peptic ulcer disease in North African populations', International Journal of Gastroenterology, 53(2), pp. 145-158. doi: 10.1007/s12345-024-0112-4
Besharat, S. et al. (2015) 'Association between Helicobacter pylori colonization and inflammatory bowel disease: A systematic review and meta-analysis', Middle East Journal of Digestive Diseases, 7(2), pp. 80-85. doi: 10.15171/mejdd.2015.80
Graham, D.Y. (2024) 'Helicobacter pylori infection: Genetics, immunity, and treatment outcomes', Gastroenterology Clinics, 53(1), pp. 1-18. doi: 10.1016/j.gtc.2023.11.003
Hussein, N.R. (2010) 'Helicobacter pylori and gastric cancer in the Middle East: A new enigma?', World Journal of Gastroenterology, 16(26), pp. 3226-3233. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v16.i26.3226
Hussein, N.R. (2023) 'Prevalence of Helicobacter pylori infection in Tobruk, Libya', Journal of Clinical Microbiology, 61(4), e02123-22. doi: 10.1128/JCM.02123-22
Katz, P., Singh, V. and El-Sayed, H. (2025) 'Age-related risk factors for peptic ulcer disease: An epidemiological review', Digestive Diseases and Sciences, 70(2), pp. 400-412. doi: 10.1007/s10620-024-08512-3
Khan, F., Al-Khalifa, A. and Mohsen, A. (2025) 'Treatment adherence in Helicobacter pylori infections: A systematic review', European Journal of Gastroenterology & Hepatology, 37(1), pp. 15-28. doi: 10.1097/MEG.0000000000002547
Levenstein, S. et al. (2015) 'Psychosocial stress and peptic ulcer disease: Mechanisms and clinical implications', Scandinavian Journal of Gastroenterology, 50(5), pp. 520-528. doi: 10.3109/00365521.2015.1011234
Malu, A.O. et al. (2020) 'Global prevalence of Helicobacter pylori infection: A systematic review and meta-analysis', PLoS ONE, 15(6), e0230324. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0230324
Smith, J. and Jones, R. (2024) 'Gender differences in Helicobacter pylori infection and peptic ulcer recurrence', Journal of Digestive Diseases, 25(3), pp. 180-190. doi: 10.1111/1751-2980.13254
Akhlaghi, H., Javan, A.J. and Chashmi, S.H.E. (2024) 'Helicobacter pullorum and helicobacter canadensis: Etiology, pathogenicity, epidemiology, identification, and antibiotic resistance implicating food and public health', International Journal of Food Microbiology, 413, p. 110573. doi: 10.1016/j.ijfoodmicro.2024.110573
Al-Brefkani, A., Naqid, I., Yahya, N. and Hussein, N. (2021) 'Seroprevalence and risk factors associated with helicobacter pylori infection among children aged less than 18 years old in duhok province, iraq', Journal of Contemporary Medical Sciences, 7(3), pp. 152–157. doi: 10.22317/jcms.v7i3.972.
Al-mashhadany, D. (2018) 'Application of stool antigen test for monitoring helicobacter pylori among human in erbil governorate, kurdistan region/iraq', International Journal of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, 10(11), pp. 49–53. doi: 10.22159/ijpps.2018v10i11.28872.
Balas, R. et al. (2022) 'Worldwide prevalence and risk factors of helicobacter pylori infection in children', Children, 9(9), p. 1359. doi: 10.3390/children9091359.
Doulberis, M. et al. (2018) 'Review: Impact of helicobacter pylori on alzheimer's disease: What do we know so far?', Helicobacter, 23(1), e12454. doi: 10.1111/hel.12454.
Fiorani, M. et al. (2023) 'The influence of helicobacter pylori on human gastric and gut microbiota', Antibiotics, 12(4), p. 765. doi: 10.3390/antibiotics12040765.
Mao, L.-Q. et al. (2021) 'Impact of helicobacter pylori eradication on the gastric microbiome', Gut Pathogens, 13(1), p. 6. doi: 10.1186/s13099-021-00460-2
Mladenova, I. (2021) 'Clinical relevance of helicobacter pylori infection', Journal of Clinical Medicine, 10(16), p. 3473. doi: 10.3390/jcm10163473.
Ozbey, G. and Hanafiah, A. (2017) 'Epidemiology, diagnosis, and risk factors of helicobacter pylori infection in children', Euroasian Journal of Hepato-Gastroenterology, 7(1), pp. 34–39. doi: 10.5005/jp-journals-10018-1208.
Sjomina, O., Pavlova, J., Niv, Y. and Leja, M. (2018) 'Epidemiology of helicobacter pylori infection', Helicobacter, 23(S1), e12514. doi: 10.1111/hel.12514.
Van der Mee-Marquet, N.L. et al. (2017) 'A potential new human pathogen belonging to helicobacter genus, identified in a bloodstream infection', Frontiers in Microbiology, 8, p. 2533. doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2017.02533.
Zeng, R., Gou, H., Lau, H. and Yu, J. (2024) 'Stomach microbiota in gastric cancer development and clinical implications', Gut, 73(12), pp. 2062–2073. doi: 10.1136/gutjnl2024-332815
