A Case of Persistent Helicobacter pylori Infection Occurring with Anti-IgE Immunosuppression

Daniel Zandman1, William Hahn1, Steven Moss1

  • 1Division of Gastroenterology, Department of Internal Medicine, Rhode Island Hospital, The Warren Alpert School of Medicine of Brown University, Providence, RI.

The increasingly widespread use of novel immunosuppressive drugs may lead to unexpected infectious complications. We report a case of persistent Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infection that failed to respond to antimicrobial therapy in a patient receiving omalizumab (Xolair™, Genentech USA Inc., San Francisco, CA and Novartis Pharmaceuticals, Basel, Switzerland), an anti-IgE monoclonal antibody approved by the FDA for treatment of severe persistent asthma. To our knowledge, this is the first case report linking an immunosuppressive regimen containing anti-IgE biologic therapy to persistent H. pylori infection.

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