Author
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WESLEY, IRENE |
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Submitted to: Book Chapter
Publication Type: Book / Chapter Publication Acceptance Date: 4/7/1999 Publication Date: N/A Citation: N/A Interpretive Summary: Technical Abstract: Helicobacter pylori is the most human common bacterial infection. Because it is distributed globally, numerous routes of transmission are possible, including via consumption of contaminated food and water. Because H. pylori has been found in feces, a fecal-oral route and transmission by flies have been proposed. The evidence suggesting dissemination via consumption of water and food, especially raw vegetables, is based primarily on retrospective epidemiological data. Since the species of Helicobacter have a narrow host range, food animals would not be natural hosts of H. pylori. For example, H. heilmanni has been isolated primarily from pigs; a possible new species of Helicobacter has been visualized in the abomasum of cattle. However, that H. pullorum has been cultured from chickens, as well as from a limited number of cases of human enteritis is suggestive of transmission by poultry. Helicobacter pylori can survive in water and in milk. Although the cultural isolation Helicobacter is regarded as the gold standard, alternative means of detecting this fastidious microbe have been designed. The polymerase chain reaction assay, targeting the urease gene, is more sensitive than cultural isolation and has facilitated rapid identification of this newly described microbe in clinical specimens. Inactivation strategies, including chlorination of water, which has been used for enteric pathogens, such as C. jejuni, are effective against H. pylori. |
