Breath tests for detection of helicobacter pylori and Aspergillus fumigatus

Abstract

The association of Helicobacter pylori with peptic ulcer disease and gastric cancer was first proposed by Warren and Marshall in 1983 [1]. In February 1994, the National Institutes of Health Consensus Development Conference concluded that H. pylori infection is the major cause of peptic ulcer disease, and all patients with confirmed peptic ulcer disease associated with H. pylori infection should receive treatment with antimicrobial agents [2]. The International Agency for Research on Cancer Working Group of the World Health Organization categorized H. pylori as a group I, or definite, human carcinogen [3]. Based on the data retrieved during the National Health Interview Survey of 1989, 10 % of adult US residents reported physician-diagnosed ulcer disease, among whom one-third had an ulcer in the past year [4]. In developing countries, the prevalence of H. pylori carriers can be as high as 70-90 %. The prevalence of the infection in developed countries is lower, ranging from 25 to 50 % with most patients acquiring the infection at childhood [5]. Seroprevalence studies in adults demonstrated an increasing rate of 3-4 % per decade [3, 6-8].