Performances of a Fast Test for the Detection of Helicobacter Pylori Antigens in Child Stool

The diagnostic tests used to detect Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infection are either direct and invasive, as in culture, histology and the rapid urease test (RUT) or noninvasive, such as serology, the 13C-Urea breathe test or the stool antigen test. However, there is no single reference method to detect the H. pylori infection reliably and accurately. The specificity of gastric biopsy cultures is 100%, but the sensitivity is lower. Histology and RUT provide excellent diagnostic accuracy, but the detection of H. pylori is decreased in cases of bleeding peptic ulcers or gastric atrophy. Therefore, it is recommended that at least two tests should agree when defining the H. pylori infection in children. Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qPCR)-based methods have been shown to be the most reliable for H. pylori detection in adults and in children. In children, the reference method for H. pylori infection detection is invasive, namely upper digestive endoscopy with gastric biopsy for histology, culture, RUT and qPCR. A noninvasive alternative to detect H. pylori antigen in stools could use a quick one-step immuno-chromatographic technique. The aim of this study was to assess the performance of a new quick, noninvasive, one-step immuno-chromatographic, stool antigen test (ALERE Inc, Jouy-en-Josas, France) for the detection of H. pylori infection in children.