<i>Helicobacter pylori</i> infection in children with immune thrombocytopenia

Abstract

To detect the association between Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infection and immune thrombocytopenia in children and adolescents. Immune thrombocytopenia (ITP) is a common bleeding disorder in childhood. H. pylori is a widespread organism that is present in about 50% of the global population. There is an obvious relation between helicobacter pylori infection and chronic idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura. A cross-sectional study was conducted in 95 patients with ITP who were recruited from the Hematology Unit, Department of Pediatrics, Menoufia University Hospital in the period from June 2021 to June 2022. The age of the patients ranged between 3.5 and 7.5 years. Fifty-five of them were males and 40 were females. The study was approved by the Ethical Committee of the Faculty of Medicine, Menoufia University. Out of the studied ITP children, 62 (65.3%) were positive for H. pylori antigen in stool, and 33 (34.7%) were negative. There was a significant difference between H. pylori-positive and H. pylori-negative patients regarding the grade of bleeding at presentation; 51 (82.3%) H. pylori-positive patients presented with grade 3 bleeding, 35 (56.5%) of them presented with skin and gum bleeding, 16 (25.8%) presented with skin bleeding and epistaxis. There was a statistically significant difference in the rate of recovery between H. pylorinegative patients (78.8%) and H. pylori-positive patients (22.6%). There was a significant rise in the platelet count in H. pylori-positive patients after the treatment of H. pylori. The prevalence of H. pylori infection in ITP pediatric patients was 65.3%. There was a significant rise in the platelet count in H. pylori-positive ITP children after the treatment of H. pylori.