PREVALENCE OF HELICOBACTER PYLORI INFECTION AMONG STUDENTS OF FEDERAL UNIVERSITY WUKARI, NIGERIA

*Chinedu Imo, Bissong Joseph and Chioma Ibekwe

ABSTRACT

This study sought to determine the frequency of Helicobacter pylori infection among students at Federal University Wukari in Nigeria. Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) is a common bacterium that infects the stomach lining, causing gastritis and increasing the risk of developing stomach cancer. One hundred and sixty-eight (168) students from Federal University Wukari, Taraba State, Nigeria, volunteered for testing and were used in this study. They are ninety-two (92) men and seventy-six (76) women. They were selected at random. The students' blood samples were tested for H. pylori using a quick, one-step test for the qualitative identification of Helicobacter pylori antibodies in whole blood, serum, or plasma. The results indicated a positive test for H. pylori infection in forty (40) male students and a negative test result in fifty-two (52) male students out of the ninety-two (92) male students tested at Federal University Wukari, Nigeria. Similarly, among the seventy-six (76) female students tested, there were twenty-eight (28) positive results and forty-eight (48) negative results for H. pylori infection. In total, out of one hundred and sixty-eight (168) students tested, sixty-eight (68) had positive test results for H. pylori infection, while one hundred (100) tested negative. This means that forty percent (40%) of the students tested positive for H. pylori infection, while sixty percent (60%) tested negative. This study concluded that the prevalence of H. pylori infection among students at Federal University Wukari, Nigeria may be approximately 40%, indicating that about 60% of the students are likely uninfected as at the period of this research.

Keywords:

Antibodies, Bacterium, Gastritis, Helicobacter pylori, Infection, Prevalence, Ulcer

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