FRIDAY, Nov. 4 (HealthDay News) -- A 10-day sequential treatment is more effective in eradicating Helicobacter pylori in children than conventional treatments, according to a new study published in the November issue of Gastroenterology.
Ruggiero Francavilla, M.D., Ph.D., of the University of Bari, Italy, and colleagues conducted a randomized trial with 78 children with H. pylori. Thirty-eight of the children were administered a 10-day treatment that has proven 95% effective in eradicting H. pylori in adults. The treatment consists of five days of omeprazole plus amoxicillin, followed by five days of omeprazole, clarithromycin and tinidazole. Thirty-seven children were treated for one week with triple therapy, which consists of omeprazole, amoxicillin and metronidazole.
Among the children receiving sequential treatment there was a 97.3% eradication rate, compared to a 75.7% eradication rate for children receiving the triple therapy.
"If our results are confirmed by a large multicenter study, the use of this effective and attractive 10-day sequential treatment regimen may become the new standard for the treatment of H. pylori in childhood," the authors conclude.
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