Association between iron deficiency anemia and Helicobacter pylori infection among children under six years in Iran.

This study was conducted to evaluate the association between H. pylori infection and Iron deficiency anemia (IDA) among preschool children (age range: 40-75 months) at a tertiary referral hospital in Tehran.In a case-control study, the prevalence of H. pylori seropositivity was compared between 64 children with IDA diagnosis and 70 healthy non-anemic sex- and age-matched controls. Totally, 52 (81.3%) children with IDA and 10 (14.3%) non-anemic controls had a positive antibody level for H. pylori specific IgG and the difference between two groups was statistically significant (P<0.0001). H. pylori infection had a significant high prevalence among preschool patients with IDA. Eradication of H. pylori infection is recommended for patients with refractory IDA.