Helicobacter pylori

Spiral-shaped swimming bacterium that causes gastritis and stomach ulcers when it colonizes the stomach lining. Without antibiotic treatment, infection can be permanent. H. pylori may also contribute towards stomach cancer.

Approximately 60% of 60-year-olds in the USA and Western Europe are infected with H. pylori; the infection is rarely found in children. In developing countries 60-70% of children under 10 exhibit infection.

A link was established between infection with H. pylori and migraine by Italian researchers in 1998. Migraine incidence was vastly reduced after the bacterium had been eradicated by antibiotics.

Scientists announced in August 1997 that they had completed a full genetic blueprint of H. pylori. The details from the blueprint, or genome, would be used to determine how the organism affects humans, which would lead to improved antibiotics and vaccines.