Naturally acquired human immune responses againstHelicobacter pylori and implications for vaccine development

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Abstract
H pylori is a Gram negative flagellated bacterium which lives both in the mucus gel layer that coats the gastric mucosa and between the mucus gel layer and the apical surfaces of gastric mucosal epithelial cells. Although it seems to be largely extracellular, some invasion of gastric cells has been reported.1 In Western countries, H pylori infection increases from a low prevalence in childhood to about 20% of people below 40 years of age,2 with a steep rise in infection rates to 50% at age 60, attributed to increased infection during the Second World War. In underdeveloped countries, acquisition of infection occurs in 10% of children per annum so that 90% are infected by their teenage years.