Scientific publications
First national survey of the diagnosis of Helicobacter pylori infection in Clinical Microbiology Laboratories in Spain. Scientific Publication
Ana Miqueleiz-Zapatero 1 , Claudio Alba-Rubio 2 , Diego Domingo-García 3 , Rafael Cantón 4 , Elia Gómez-García de la Pedrosa 4 , Esteban Aznar-Cano 5 , José Leiva 6 , Milagrosa Montes 7 , Isabel Sánchez-Romero 8 , Juan Carlos Rodríguez-Díaz 9 , Teresa Alarcón-Cavero 3 , Grupo de Trabajo de Diagnóstico Microbiológico de Helicobacter pylori; Integrantes del Grupo de Trabajo de Diagnóstico Microbiológico de Helicobacter pylori Andalucía; Aragón; Principado de Asturias; Islas Baleares; Canarias; Cantabria; Castilla y León; Castilla-La Mancha; Cataluña; Comunidad Valenciana; Extremadura; Galicia; Comunidad de Madrid; Comunidad Foral de Navarra; País Vasco; La Rioja
Introduction: The aim of this study was to know, through a national survey, the methods and techniques used for the diagnosis of Helicobacter pylori (Hp) in the different Clinical Microbiology Services/Laboratories in Spain, as well as antibiotic resistance data.
Methods: The survey requested information about the diagnostic methods performed for Hp detection in Clinical Microbiology laboratories, including serology, stool antigen, culture from gastric biopsies, and PCR. In addition, the performance of antibiotic susceptibility was collected. Data on the number of samples processed in 2016, positivity of each technique and resistance data were requested. The survey was sent by email (October-December 2017) to the heads of 198 Clinical Microbiology Laboratories in Spain.
Results: Overall, 51 centers from 29 regions answered the survey and 48/51 provided Hp microbiological diagnostic testing. Concerning the microbiological methods used to diagnose Hp infection, the culture of gastric biopsies was the most frequent (37/48), followed by stool antigen detection (35/48), serology (19/48) and biopsy PCR (5/48). Regarding antibiotic resistance, high resistance rates were observed, especially in metronidazole and clarithromycin (over 33%).
Conclusion: Culture of gastric biopsies was the most frequent method for detection of Hp, but the immunochromatographic stool antigen test was the one with which the largest number of samples were analyzed. Nowadays, in Spain, it concerns the problem of increased antibiotic resistance to 'first-line' antibiotics.
CITATION Enferm Infecc Microbiol Clin (Engl Ed). 2020 Nov;38(9):410-416. doi: 10.1016/j.eimc.2019.11.008. Epub 2020 Jan 25.
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