changing prevalence of helicobacter pylori in south of iran

background the prevalence of helicobacter pylori has declined rapidly in asia. this has been shown in both seroprevalence-based and endoscopy-based studies. the present study was conducted to determine the prevalence of gastric infection caused by h. pylori in an iranian population residing in south of iran. patients and methods a total of 522 patients (266 females and 256 males with the mean age of 44.3±13.0, range 18-83 years) underwent endoscopy in shiraz, southern iran. the diagnosis of h. pylori infection was established by rapid urease test, culture and gram staining and the gastric disease was confirmed by an expert pathologist. results from ulcerative (n=296) and non-ulcerative (n=226) patients, 156 (52.7%) and 94 (41.6%) h. pylori strains were isolated by culture, respectively. the prevalence of h. pylori infection was significantly higher in patients aged 21-30 and >50 years (66.66% and 62.12%, respectively). however, h. pylori was not detected in 22 patients aged <20 years. conclusion the present study revealed a significant decline in the prevalence of h. pylori infection in the studied population. it seems that in parallel with better therapeutic approaches and elimination of bacteria, an improvement in the personal hygiene and living conditions of the iranian population contribute to lower prevalence of h. pylori.