Review: Epidemiology of <i>Helicobacter pylori</i> infection

<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title><jats:p>This review summarizes recent publications on the epidemiology of <jats:italic>Helicobacter pylori</jats:italic>. Two major systemic analyses, from Malaysia and Ethiopia, were published. The Brazilian Consensus Conference has stated that <jats:italic>H pylori</jats:italic> infection is an infectious disease with an indication for antimicrobial therapy. A continuous decrease in <jats:italic>H pylori</jats:italic> prevalence was reported from many regions worldwide, including Korea, China, Iran, and Austria. A cross‐sectional <jats:italic>H pylori</jats:italic> prevalence study conducted in the United Arab Emirates found 41% prevalence in a group of healthy children and adults. Several studies from Asia addressed <jats:italic>H pylori</jats:italic> prevalence in adults undergoing regular checkup. The largest of such studies, performed in Korea, involved 24 471 subjects and reported 41.5% seroprevalence. A relatively smaller study from East China on 3252 subjects reported 27.5% prevalence. In contrast, a study from Spain reported 87.2% seroprevalence. A report on the association between smoking and <jats:italic>H pylori</jats:italic> seropositivity was published on behalf of the Stomach Cancer Pooling (StoP) Project—a consortium of epidemiological studies of gastric cancer. Also, other potential risk factors, including occupational risk factors, water supply, and food were analyzed. Gastroesophageal reflux and sexual partners has been associated with a higher risk for <jats:italic>H pylori</jats:italic> acquisition, and gut microbiota was suggested to play a role in intrafamilial transmission of <jats:italic>H pylori</jats:italic>. Finally, in a few studies (from Mexico and Japan), the catalytic model for predicting the potential risk of acquiring <jats:italic>H pylori</jats:italic> infection in the future was used. As anticipated, a further decline in <jats:italic>H pylori</jats:italic>‐related disease was demonstrated by applying the modeling.</jats:p>