KARACHI, July 3: Parents and medical practitioners have strongly recommended parents not to ignore recurrent abdominal pain among children, as it may be a major sign of ‘Helecobacter pylori’, a silent infection, which if overlooked may emerge as a precursor to gastric cancer and lymphoma.

Prof Iqbal Memon, Head of Paediatric Ward III, Civil Hospital Karachi talking to APP on Sunday said that while there were no established causes for the infection, yet poverty and malnutrition coupled with poor hygienic conditions, overcrowding, sharing of clothes and other personal belonging were identified as high risk factors.

Manifestations of the infection were said to include ulcer, acidity, heart burn, dyspepsia and repeated abdominal pain. “These if not treated in time and overlooked may lead to gastric cancers or lymphoma among the suffering kids,” he said.

Responding to a question, he said the infection was largely treatable, adding that there were drugs that ensured absolute relief without any further severity provided they were administered under qualified supervision for two weeks.

The senior paediatrician particularly said that great responsibility lay on medical practitioners too to see that the above cited conditions were efficiently attended to.

Helecobacter pylori, he said, was an infection, which occurred among children between six months to three years of age of developing countries including Pakistan as compared to children of four to eight years in developed countries.

It may be mentioned that a study conducted recently by Dr M.N. Lal under the supervision of Prof Iqbal Memon at the Paediatric Ward Unit III, Civil Hospital, showed that 33 per cent of children referred to the ward had complaints of recurrent abdominal pain.

The Unit III of the Civil Hospital’s Paediatric Ward is one of the very few facilities equipped with paediatric endoscopic machines through which timely assessment of children could be made and they can be administered the required treatment.—APP