Helicobacter pylori prevalence among medical students in a high endemic area

To evaluate the prevalence of Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) among Saudi medical students.

Volunteer medical students were randomly selected in the College of Medicine, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia from January 2005 to May 2005. A urea breath test (UBT) was performed for each medical student. Important demographic data was recorded. Each student had to answer a questionnaire on upper gastrointestinal (UGI) symptoms before the UBT.

A total of 120 students were recruited (73 males [61%] and 47 females [39%]) with a mean age of 22.2 years (age varied from 18 to 28 years). The prevalence of H. pylori was surprisingly low at 35%, compared to a previously reported high prevalence among the Saudi population (80%). Thirty-one percent of medical students reported >or= 1 UGI symptom with no significant differences between the positive and negative UBT results. Although there was a trend, there was no significant prevalence difference between the preclinical and the clinical group of students.

We found a low prevalence of H. pylori in our young university medical student's population. The low prevalence of H. pylori in this young population may have important clinical and economic implications.