Helicobacter Forums

Hello. Desperately seeking this answer for my 6 year old son who is in the autism spectrum.
Hired a dietician to help, she ordered several tests one of which was the GI Map gut test. This showed my son had a high H Pylori count.
Breathe test was negative!
Her justification was, even though he does not have an “active” infection, his bacteria was still high and should be addressed with a natural supplement called Gastroemd.

Thoughts??

I thought I read somewhere on here that this did not matter. High, normal or low, all that matters is negative or positive.
Any feedback would be so greatly appreciated.

The GI Map is not a recommended test for H. pylori diagnosis. The amount of H. pylori has no impact on the disease severity.

Nevertheless, HP infection is normally not a problem for children.

HP infection is a very chronic infection and people can stay infected for decades without problem.

Nevertheless, according to our clinic's data, age group 25-35, is the group that has the most patients. So I assume H. pylori symptoms most commonly start from that age group.

Lastly, many antibiotics have nasty side effect. It wont be advisable to try them on children, especially their guts microbiota is growing and the immune system is learning.

natural therapy is fine in suppressing symptoms, but not necessary that they are useful in eradicating H. pylori. We have not seen a promising natural product in eradicating H. pylori.

First off, thank you so much for your reply.
To be sure I understand your answer clearly....

You are saying his high level of h pylori bacteria is not a reason to “treat”

Because of his autism, there is a communication barrier and thus he cannot adequately express to me if he is having the classic symptoms h pylori. But as very intuitive mommy, I cannot see that he is having any GI trouble whatsoever.
My intuition, backed by the negative breath test, tells me this is because he simply does not have an active H Pylori infection.

My question then is, if natural supplements only suppress symptoms would they have any affect on his level of h pylori?

Dietician is suggesting that while he may not have an “active” infection now, I should still give him the gastromend to reduce his high level of bacteria.

Could you explain how or why the level of bacteria is irrelevant and only a positive infection would require any type of treatment? You do not feel it is necessary to be “pro active” in attempting to reduce the present level of high bacteria in order to prevent a possible infection, like she is suggesting...?
Lastly, if the GI Map is not a recommend test for H Pylori infection, I suppose that could also include- not a recommended test even to detect the level of h pylori period...?
Thank you for your time.

I believe GI Map is using DNA testing for finding bacteria. Such test has not been validated for its sensitivity and specificity for H. pylori. Breath and Stool test have always been the gold standard in diagnosis H. pylori and had been validated many times by various laboratories over 30 years. So, when GI Map (a new technology) comes into market and start showing contradicting result to breath or stool test, we should question the accuracy of such test.

The breath test data is positively correlated to H. pylori load. The more H. pylori, the higher the breath test reading. We have seen patients with very high breath test reading (over 5000 dpm) but asymptomatic. We have also seen patients with borderline positive breath test reading (about 250 dpm) and had an gastric ulcer. So the amount of H. pylori in your stomach cannot be used to correlate with disease severity.

Since children are commonly not compliance with antibiotics, as they commonly come with adverse side effects, there is a risk of the children not completing the treatment and lead to antibiotic resistance. In addition, since H. pylori infection symptoms normally only kicks in in adulthood, there is no need to rush children to treatment. Just wait till they are above 18 years old.

I understand that you may have difficulty understanding your child's gastric symptoms. But, if he is physically fit. eg. normal body weight. eating ok; normal bowel movement; no obvious symptoms like reflux or tummy pain; etc, then there is really no need to worry about.

I have briefly touched the topic of how H. pylori load has little impact on disease state. Let me know if you want more information on that.

You’ve been plenty helpful! I’m so appreciative.