The founding President of the African Helicobacter and Microbiota Study Group (AHMSG), Prof. Stella Smith (FAS), has commended Richen Medical Science Group, an equipment manufacturer for helicobacter pylori treatment and management, for supporting the actualisation of the corporate mission, goal and philosophy of AHMSG. The AHMSG, a new group of medical researchers majoring in studying better ways of helicobacter pylori treatment and management, was recently presented to stakeholders in the health sector in Nigeria, Africa and the world In general.
Prof Smith, who gave the commendation at the closing of the intensive 3-day workshop of the group at the Nigerian Institute of Medical Research (NIMR), Yaba, Lagos, stated that the commendation became necessary because it will be un-African and unappreciative not to commend Richen for its regular support. “I wish to commend them for their support because they believe in forging appropriate diagnosis and management of Helicobacter pylori in Africa. As the platinum sponsor of the European Helicobacter and Microbiota Study Group (EHMSG) since 2015 and they have also in addition reached out to other study groups as their main aim is to reduce morbidity and mortality of H. pylori infection globally. For appropriate treatment and management of H. pylori issues, instruments such as Urea breath test and H. pylori Stool Antigen test are both essential for diagnosis and management of H. pylori infections.”
Prof. Smith stressed that the right procedures, instruments for the management of H. pylori were essential to the treatment because H. pylori produces copious amounts of urease enzymes and after a few minutes of taking a carbon 13 labelled urea into the stomach, it converts into ammonia and carbon dioxide and the level of carbon dioxide that the patient exhales is measured and this helps to determine whether H. pylori is present or not.
‘The Urea Breath Test instrument helps to diagnose H. pylori. It has the highest sensitivity of non- invasive method of testing especially in our environment after testing with the urea Breath Test instrument, if it is positive for H. pylori, the gastroenterologist prescribes drugs and instructs the patients to comeback after four weeks for another check for the eradication of the H. pylori. This is not usually done in most countries in Africa and that is one if the areas our group wants to look into by setting Guidelines for Africa.’
Another primary instrument is stool antigen test which measures active H. pylori in the stool. This is slightly less sensitive than the Urea Breath Test but either can be used in laboratories for the appropriate diagnosis of patients.
Reiterating that H. pylori is a neglected pathogen in Africa, Smith explained that as a group, AHMSG is formulating guidelines for the accurate diagnosis and management of H. pylori and its associated complications in Africa. While more attention has over time been given to malaria, HIV/AIDS, TB, maternal and child health and in recent times Ebola and COVID-19, she said tis does not imply that H. pylori is not ravaging and causing a lot of health challenges on the continent.
“It has been reported that 50% of the world’s population are infected with H. pylori with people of different races and regions having varying levels of severity and pathological outcomes. In a review we published in the World Journal of Gastroenterology 2019, on ‘Infections with H. pylori and Challenges encountered in Africa,’ it was revealed that the prevalence of H. pylori was as high as 80%.”