Gastroenteritis and Transmission of Helicobacter pylori. Infection in Households.

Household members in California USA were tested for H. pylori infection. Among 1,752 person considered uninfected at baseline, 30 new infections (7 definite, 7 probable, and 16 possible) occurred. Exposure to an infected household member with gastroenteritis was associated with a 4.8-fold increased risk for definite or probable new infection. Of probable/definite new infections, 75% were attributable to exposure to an infected person with gastroenteritis. The authors suggest that person-to-person transmission of H. pylori is most commonly implicated with fecal/oral, oral/oral, or gastric/oral pathways; infection is associated with conditions of crowding and poor hygiene and intrafamilial clustering. Emerging Infectious Diseases 2006, 12, 1701-1208.