Antibiotic Resistance Patterns of Helicobacter pylori in Africa

Abstract

To eradicate Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori), antibiotic therapy must be adapted to the local resistance patterns. However, the epidemiology of drug resistance pattern of H. pylori is poorly documented in Africa. Therefore, the present review is aimed to review the prevalence of antibiotic resistant H. pylori from previous studies in Africa. A computerized English language literature search of PubMed, MEDLINE and Google Scholar was performed in January 2016. Only 11 articles met the inclusion criteria. The average H. pylori antibiotic resistance was 79.66% for metronidazole, 41.03% for clarithromycin, 42.3% for amoxicillin, 63.19% for tetracycline, 30.16 for erythromycin, and 3.9% for ciprofloxacin. No resistance was documented for clindamycin. H. pylori antibiotic resistance has been on rise in the last 10 years even if clindamycin and ciprofloxacin seems to be effective drugs. Therefore, empirical therapy for H. pylori must be based on current information on antimicrobial resistance patterns of the bacteria.

Keywords: H. pylori, antibiotics, resistance, Africa