Abstract
The study explores a change in prevalence of Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infection in the Czech Republic within a 10-year period. A total of 22 centres entered the study.
The catchment areas of these centres covered cities and towns with more than 20 000 inhabitants, smaller towns (<= 20 000 inhabitants) with surrounding villages and rural areas, and were spread over the whole country, corresponding well to the geographical distribution of the Czech population. A total of 1 837 subjects (aged 5-98 years) took part in the study, randomly selected out of 38 147 people from the general population.
H. pylori infection was investigated by means of a C-13-urea breath test. Breath samples in duplicates were analysed using isotope ratio mass spectrometry.
The cut-off point was 3.5. Social and demographic characteristics were based on data from self-completed questionnaires.
The overall prevalence of H. pylon infection in the general population has fallen substantially in the Czech Republic over the past 10 years.