The Prevalence of Helicobacter pylori in Drinking Drinking Water Samples in Egypt

Background: Helicobacter pylori infection is one of the most common infections worldwide. In Egypt, H. pylori prevalence has been reported to be 60% among patients greater than 6 years of age. However the environmental risk factors and sources of infection by this organism have not been extensively studied for this region.
Aim: The primary objective of the present study was to determine, for a population in which H. pylori is common, the potential environmental sources of infection by both filtration PCR and filtration culture PCR for water samples. Also we aimed to study the cagA and vacA genotypes of these strains.
Materials and Methods: In this study, fifty tap water samples were tested to investigate the presence of H. pylori from rural and urban regions in Alexandria. The detection of H. pylori in water was done by PCR using specific primers for urease gene Ure C (294 bp). Results: In this study, H. pylori ure C gene was detected in 4 (8%) of water samples. Two of these cases were detected using Filtration PCR and another two were detected using Filtration culture PCR. All positive samples were negative for CagA and VacA genes.
Conclusion: The present study confirms the presence of H. pylori in drinking water of Alexandria. Detection of H.pylori in water by both filtration PCR and filtration culture PCR in different samples confirm the presence of H.pylori in different forms in water, viable non culturable and culturable.