Helicobacter Pylori Tests and Results

Helicobacter pylori

This post was most recently updated on August 26th, 2019

Helicobacter pylori


H.pylori is microaerophilic and motile by means of sheathed flagella.



Gastric ulcer
Gastric ulcer


The different tests for the detection of H. pylori are;


    Principle behind urea breath test
    Principle behind urea breath test



 Advantages and disadvantages of diagnostic testing for Helicobacter pylori

Test Methods Advantage Disadvantage 
Histology Excellent Sensitivity and specificity Expensive and requires infrastructure and trained personnel
Rapid Urease Testing  Inexpensive and provides rapid results. Excellent specificity and very good sensitivity in properly selected patients. Sensitivity significantly reduced in post- treatment setting
Culture Excellent specificity. Allows determination of antibiotic sensitivities. Expensive, difficult to perform, and not widely available.
Antibody testing (quantitative and qualitative) Inexpensive, widely available, very good negative predictive value (NPV). Positive predictive value (PPV) dependent upon background H. pylori prevalence. Not recommended after H.pylori therapy.
Urea breath tests 


Identifies active H.pylori infection. Excellent PPV and NPV regardless of H.pylori prevalence.
Fecal antigen test


Identifies active H.pylori infection. Excellent positive and negative predictive values regardless of H.pylori prevalence. Useful before and after H.pylori therapy.  Polyclonal test less well validated than the UBT in the post-treatment setting. Monoclonal test appears reliable before and after antibiotic therapy. Unpleasantness associated with collecting stool.


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  1. Hi Tankeshwor Jee,
    Thank you for the article. I was recently diagnosed with antral erosive gastritis based on endoscopy observation and recommended for H. Pylori medication. Is it a good method to conclude H pylori without any stool test. Do we have H pylori stool test in Kathmandu? If yes, why do doctors suggest Endoscopy and conclude H pylori? Your response will be valuable.

