Prevalence and Emergence of Drug Resistance in Helicobacter pylori: Review

Abstract

Helicobacter pylori is spiral shaped Gram negative bacterium, colonizes the stomach and can persist for a lifetime if not completely eradicated. Infection caused by this bacterium is the most common in the world and it is much widespread in developing countries. Prevalence of Helicobacter pylori antibiotic resistance is increasing. It is the main factor displeasing efficacy of current treatment regimens. The epidemiology of Helicobacter pylori resistance to antibiotics is poorly documented in developing countries with many reasons. Therefore, this review aims to assess the prevalence and drug resistance pattern of Helicobacter pylori. Different literature was searched with different electronic databases and reviewed systematically to get tangible findings. This review tries to include recent articles across the world by giving more emphasis for Africa performed on prevalence and drug resistance patterns of Helicobacter pylori. According to this review there is a need to embark on more studies to draw attention to the clinical and epidemiological significance of this pathogens.