Should all family members get tested for H Pylori?

by karen
(nj)

I am 55 years old and have been feeling ill for about 2 years. I was just diagnosed with h pylori and am currently taking medicine. I am the caretaker of my 2 year old grandson. My question is should my grandson and husband get tested because of the close contact? I am so afraid of being reinfected if my husband or grandson have it. Thank you so much! Karen.

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Difficult Question
by: Kerri Knox, RN - The Immune Queen

Hi Karen,

That is a difficult question. I completely understand your reasoning, however the other question is one of whether a two year old should be treated for an infection that is not causing them problems.

I'm sure that if you test your husband and he is positive, he'd willingly be treated in order to possibly prevent you from being reinfected, however, are you going to subject a two year old to antibiotics or a two month regimen of natural treatments just for your own benefit and not his own?

And what about your grandson's parents? You obviously have regular contact with them. And your friends? Do you play bridge once a week, have regular meals with friends, etc? All of this puts you at risk for re-exposure.

So, it's certainly up to you and the parents of your grandson to get tested, but you can't live in a bubble, you got the infection because your immune system was not strong enough to fight it off. And you have no idea WHERE you got the infection from. It could have been any number of people- friends, family, acquaintances, even a restaurant. You can't hide out or force everyone you come in contact with to get tested because you fear getting reinfected.

It's far better to work on boosting your own immune system and preventing reinfection instead of trying to prevent ever coming into contact with the bacteria again, since that is patently unrealistic.

Kerri Knox, RN

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