Poster Presentation Australian Society for Microbiology Annual Scientific Meeting 2014

Evaluation of two Helicobacter pylori Assays – MP Biomedicals ASSURE® H. pylori & SD BIOLINE H. pylori rapid tests (#453)

Bruce Wong 1 2 , Annette Dimos 1 2 , Sarah Gan 1 2 , Archie Darbar 1
  1. Department of Microbiology & Infectious Diseases, Pathology North, Royal North Shore Hospital, St Leonards, New South Wales, Australia
  2. Medical and Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Science, University of Technology, Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

The spiral gram-negative bacterium Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori), is commonly seen in cases of chronic gastritis, affecting two thirds of the world's population. 500,000 - 850,000 new cases of H. pylori are diagnosed every year.

Patients with H. pylori typically present with gastric or duodenal ulcers but cases of gastric carcinoma and gastric lymphoma can occur.  The method of transmission for H. pylori is currently unknown but the most likely cause is through the faecal-oral or oral-oral route. Contaminated water reservoirs are a predominant source of infection.

Diagnosis of H. pylori can be performed using a number of methods. These include esophagogastroduodenal endoscopy, biopsy urease test, urea breath test or through serological testing.

The aim of our evaluation is to determine the performance of the MP Biomedicals ASSURE®H. pylori rapid test, and compare this to the current method used at Royal North Shore Hospital, the SD BIOLINE H. pylori rapid test.