ABSTRACT
The impact of the discovery that Helicobacter pylori is the etiological agent of acute or chronic gastritis and that the bacterium may play a significant role in more serious gastroduodenal disease has been quite revolutionary. Relative to cancer-free control subjects, patients with non-cardia gastric cancers had a significantly increased risk of having H. pylori infection. The strongest evidence to date to support a link between H. pylori infection and Gastric carcinoma has come from three well-designed epidemiological studies. The data consistent with humans being the primary reservoir of H. pylori infection, a principle that is broadly accepted within the scientific community. Conflicting and often confusing results have been associated with the role of socioeconomic status as a factor in H. pylori infection. H. pylori have never been cultured from a natural water source. Laboratory studies have shown that H. pylori may survive in water for long periods of time and under special conditions may be induced to proliferate.
