Association Between Seropositivity of Helicobacter pylori Infection and Anaemia Amongst Children Aged 5-15 Years in Western Highlands of Kenya

Abstract

Anaemia is a global health problem, whose development is influenced by several factors. Helicobacter pylori infection is among the factors associated with anaemia. Long term interruption of malaria transmission in the highland area of Kipsamoite led to an increase of haemoglobin levels in some few individuals. However, there are still reported cases of low Hb levels associated with anaemia. In studies that have been done on the role of H. pylori infections on anaemia, researchers hold varied views on whether or not H. pylori infections play a role in iron deficiency anaemia. This study investigated the association between H. pylori infections and anaemia in children aged 5-15 years in Western highland region of Kenya. The study adopted a case-control design and purposive sampling technique was used in selection of subjects. Haemoglobin levels and H. pylori occurrence were measured and entered into Microsoft excel. These data was summarized into descriptive statistics. Chi-square was used in hypotheses testing. A total of 105 participants were enrolled, 35 were cases and 70 were the controls. The mean haemoglobin level was found to be statistically significantly (p<0.00), haemoglobin of cases was lower (11.05 1.726) than that of controls (13.011.897). The proportion of anaemic children among the cases was 77.1% (27) while the non-anaemic were 22.9% (8). The Chi-square showed positive statistical significant difference (p<0.05) between cases and controls. The study concluded that there was a great association between H. pylori infection and occurrence of anaemia in Western region of Kenya.