Is Helicobacter pylori contagious?

People may not know much about Helicobacter pylori, but after some patients with gastrointestinal diseases become ill, their friends and family members also develop gastrointestinal discomfort or gastrointestinal infections, which makes everyone feel very puzzled. In fact, the culprit is Helicobacter pylori. The symptoms of Helicobacter pylori infection are hidden and difficult for patients to detect.

Many people experience symptoms such as nausea, bloating, abdominal discomfort, and bad breath after eating. Many people think that these are common gastrointestinal diseases and do not take them too seriously. Experts warn that when these symptoms appear, you may have been infected with Helicobacter pylori. The early symptoms of Helicobacter pylori infection are not very obvious, but as the bacteria continue to multiply, it will cause a series of other symptoms. As the disease worsens, it may cause cancer, which poses a huge threat to patients. Is Helicobacter pylori contagious?

Experts suggest that Helicobacter pylori mainly exists in the stomach, mouth, and feces of infected people, so it can be spread among the population through the following ways:

1. Oral-to-oral route: Chinese people are accustomed to eating together. At this time, Hp goes from the mouth of the infected person through the tableware → the food or soup → the mouth of the uninfected person. Some mothers are accustomed to chewing food before feeding it to their children, thus causing their children to be infected with Hp. In addition, there is kissing between opposite sexes. Therefore, we should pay attention to oral hygiene and prevent diseases from entering the body through the mouth.

2. Fecal-oral route: Hp surviving in feces contaminates water or food, causing the drinker or eater to be infected with Hp. Studies have shown that low temperatures can prolong the survival period of Hp, so if food stored at low temperatures is contaminated by Hp, it will increase the chance of Hp transmission.

3. Stomach-oral route: It means that Hp is transmitted to healthy people through the vomitus of infected people. It mainly occurs in nurseries, kindergartens or among siblings of children.

Currently, most scholars believe that "human-to-human" and "fecal-oral" transmission are the main modes and routes of transmission. It can also be transmitted through endoscopy, and Helicobacter pylori infection has an obvious clustering phenomenon within the family. Children whose parents are infected with Helicobacter pylori have a much higher chance of being infected than children from other families. A survey of families infected with Helicobacter pylori showed that the Helicobacter pylori antibody positivity rate among "healthy people" in families with Helicobacter pylori infected people was 64%, which was significantly higher than that of "healthy people" in the same age group in families without Helicobacter pylori infection (13%).

The above is an introduction to the questions "Is Helicobacter pylori contagious?" I hope it can be helpful to everyone. Experts remind that Helicobacter pylori is very harmful to patients and affects their normal life. Therefore, everyone should pay attention to it. Once the symptoms of Helicobacter pylori appear, they should go to a regular hospital for treatment in time to avoid missing the best time for treatment and causing serious consequences.