{"id":3776,"date":"2019-12-04T06:44:37","date_gmt":"2019-12-04T06:44:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/veryhealthy.life\/?p=3776"},"modified":"2021-08-12T05:48:30","modified_gmt":"2021-08-12T05:48:30","slug":"14-causes-of-h-pylori","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/veryhealthy.life\/14-causes-of-h-pylori\/","title":{"rendered":"14 Causes of H. Pylori"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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H. Pylori is one of the most commonly diagnosed types of gut infection, and also one of the most virulent types out there. It’s diagnosed at a rate of a few thousand cases in the United States per year, with a trend of \u201cflare-ups\u201d in hotspot areas when the infection is on the loose and spreading from one person to another. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you have contracted H. Pylori, it’s likely that you will experience a range of symptoms including diarrhea, nausea, vomiting, rapid dehydration and stomach pain. It’s also likely that these symptoms can appear to go away for months at a time before they reappear again just like a new infection: H. Pylori is one of the few types of infections that can stay dormant in the human body for a long time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you suspect you have picked up H. Pylori, seek medical attention for immediate treatment. If you don’t, you’re risking your health and the health of others around you at the same time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here are 14 potential causes of H. Pylori that you should look out for. 
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1. Contaminated Water<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

H. Pylori can survive for years in the human body, periodically returning every few months as what feels like the worst bout of stomach <\/a>flu that you’ve ever had. This is what makes it very easy and common to mistake for either stomach flu or food poisoning, and very few people imagine that the \u201cfood poisoning\u201d they had several months apart could possibly be related to the same condition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The human body isn’t the only place where H. Pylori can survive. It can also live for a considerable amount of time in other substances, including water, and if you have had contact with any infected water it’s likely that you’re going to get sick. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Anyone else who was also exposed to the same water around the same time could also get sick from the same exposure and would start manifesting symptoms at more or less the same time as the other.
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2. Sharing Infectious Materials<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Water isn’t the only place where H. Pylori can be found. Any material that has been infected with the H. Pylori bacteria <\/a>immediately becomes an infection risk for anyone who touches it \u2013 and you should take special care when working with anyone who has contracted the condition during their recovery stage to ensure that you don’t get it yourself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sharing infectious materials can sometimes be one of the causes of contracting the condition. Make sure that all utensils and things like cups be removed and sterilized as soon as possible and keep both wet wipes and antibacterial wash or spray nearby to help reduce your risk of spreading a potential infection.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Infectious material is a potentially vast definition and anything that’s been used or discarded by someone with H. Pylori can serve as a potential way to pass it on to someone else. Even obsessive hand-washing isn’t always enough to stop contracting the condition.
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3. Cross-Contamination Through Water Droplets<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Direct contact with infected water isn’t the only way in which you might contact a direct H. Pylori infection<\/a>. People might imagine that physically drinking infected water is the most obvious way to get the infection, but there are also other ways \u2013 including contact with anything that infected water might have touched.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Condensation is an entirely natural process, but when water droplets form they can become a breeding ground for all sorts of different bugs and bacteria. Some of these can include H. Pylori and other bacteria found in the same family. Contact with water droplets is often not considered a serious \u201calarm bell\u201d for most people, but it’s just as dangerous as drinking infected water straight from the source.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Water droplets are a far less obvious way to be exposed to diseases and bacterias, partially because water droplets can find their way on to many things (including foods and surfaces) where they can help to spread these conditions to the next person.
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4. Contact with Affected Foods in Raw Form<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Any foods that might have been touched by infected water droplets can potentially be a breeding ground for bacteria \u2013 and there are several different types that might find their way to your food or vegetables in this way. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Alternatively, some types of foods might also have been prepared by someone who had the H. Pylori bacteria present on their hands (and didn’t properly wash them before they went on to prepare the food).  Even though nobody wants to admit to it, this is a common sight in the hospitality and restaurant industries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Both of these situations means you are at a higher risk of contracting H. Pylori. It’s especially mistaken for food poisoning in many of these cases due to the fact that it happens so close to being able to pinpoint a dietary cause \u2013 but in a great deal of these cases, it’s not food poisoning but instead an H. Pylori infection <\/a>that needs to be treated as soon as possible.
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5. Direct Contact with the Virus<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

If you come into any direct contact with the H. Pylori virus, the odds are that you have contracted it yourself and will start showing symptoms <\/a>soon after you have been exposed.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Usually, this can take a few days through to a few weeks \u2013 but in cases of a recurring H. Pylori infection, these instances and bouts of the condition can appear to be months apart even though it’s technically the same infection that keeps coming back time after time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Count the time a few weeks back from the first onset of your symptoms if you want to figure out where you might have contracted the condition. Symptoms don’t start immediately, but instead, only kick in after there has been an incubation period for the H. Pylori bacteria.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some of the causes mentioned in this article are direct causes, while some are indirect. <\/strong>In either of these cases, exposure to H. Pylori means that you might start showing symptoms \u2013 but some people carry the virus without these symptoms.
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6. Lack of Medical Supplies<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

There are thousands of smaller hospitals all over the world that don’t have the luxury of the large-scale funding that larger hospitals and clinics receive. This means that even though the smaller clinic might have some of the best and most enthusiastic staff, they might not have the proper equipment and supplies to treat people to their full capacity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A lack of medical supplies isn’t just a lack of medication <\/a>or gauze. A lack of medical supplies will also mean that the hospital or clinic staff are unable to do their jobs properly \u2013 and this is what leads to a spike in certain types of infections in many hospitals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When staff in the hospital are unable to keep up with supply and demand, they’re often also unable to keep up with things like basic hygiene or sterilization, and before you know it, there’s an epidemic all over the hospital floor.
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7. Contact with Infected Foods<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

As it’s already been described earlier on in this article, contact with any affected foods or ingredients that have been touched by anyone infected by H. Pylori<\/a> is likely to pass on the condition to you \u2013 and to the next person you contaminate in the same way.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sometimes contact with infected food is unavoidable: Going out to a restaurant or dinner party is one of the most common ways in which one can pick up conditions like H. Pylori. You’ll often notice that the other patrons who were at the restaurant the same night as you might also have gotten sick with the same incubation period. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Got sick? Ask around. You might be surprised to find that everyone came down with the same thing without realizing it. Always let restaurants, hotels and other businesses know if you suspect you contracted it from them: They might not be aware of the danger.
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8. Improper Hygiene Issues<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Everyone has a handful of things they do when they imagine that nobody is looking. Most of these things are disgusting, although the majority of things that people do when they think everyone else is looking away don’t pose any serious health risks, a select few of these habits can be really dangerous. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Can you say that you’ve been washing your hands as frequently as you should? Have you cleaned up behind the couch recently? Do you know your second cousin picked his nose as a child \u2013 and still continues to do it at the age of 40? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some of these things might just be bad, gross habits. But at the same time, many of these bad habits can also be a potential breeding ground for spreading conditions like H. Pylori. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rather be obsessive about your own health than take the risk of exposure to things like the H. Pylori<\/a> bacteria!\u00a0
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9. Infection Though Fecal Contact<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Even though direct fecal contact isn’t the kind of thing one thinks would happen in daily life, it’s one of the most common ways in which you can contract conditions like H. Pylori<\/a> \u2013 and it should underline the importance of following proper personal hygiene at all times, especially when you’re in close proximity to anyone who is sick.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sometimes direct fecal contact happens during tasks like toilet cleaning that hasn’t been approached with gloves and other safety equipment; it can also happen while taking care of someone who already has the condition \u2013 or it can happen when using a public bathroom where the people before you all had H. Pylori. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are a thousand ways to come into contact with fecal matter and the bacteria it can spread: Proper (and near-obsessive) hygiene are the only ways in which you can ensure you stop the spread. Keep anti-bacterial wash and wipes around at all times \u2013 and of course, use them.
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10. Fecal-Oral Contamination<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Fecal-oral contamination might happen in a thousand different ways that aren’t the most obvious ones. People imagine oral sex to be the first way in which fecal-oral contamination might happen \u2013 and although this is true, there are also other ways that aren’t as obvious, most of them having to do with bad hygiene that increases your risk of contracting H. Pylori<\/a> from someone else who has it.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We can’t tell what the hygiene of everyone else around us is like. Even though our health might be perfectly fine and we take every precaution possible, the five people you’re going to meet today might not have done the same \u2013 and it puts you at risk. It can be compared to driving: Everyone else on the road might not be as careful even if you’re a perfectly fine driver.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you start to show signs or symptoms of H. Pylori but can’t think of a possible way that you might have picked it up, this is one of the first possible (and least obvious) ways.
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11. Contact with H. Pylori<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Most of the ways to contract the H. Pylori bacteria <\/a>and have it proliferating in your gut all involve hygiene and contamination. Even if you’re clean, clinical and careful at all times, you can still be put at risk anywhere you might come into direct contact with the condition \u2013 and you might only start to show symptoms a few weeks after you have been exposed to it.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you want to be sure when you might have come into contact with the H. Pylori bacteria, count back a few weeks from the time you first start experiencing symptoms and it’s likely that you’ll find more or less the right time. Consider some of what’s been mentioned in this article so far to track down the possible event that might have caused it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Also, remember that repeated infection is possible if you are exposed to the same bacteria (even often from the same source) after you have been treated.
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12. Contamination in a Clinical Setting<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Everyone knows that a hospital is theoretically clean and safe, but very few people know the amount of effort that goes into keeping it that way. Hospitals and clinics do their best to stay clean and sanitary, but one should remember that a hospital is still only a huge building where recovering and sick people go to get better \u2013 and this means that the average hospital ward floor contains more diseases than your average medical catalog.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It’s possible to pick up an H. Pylori infection <\/a>in a hospital. In fact, it might be likely if there’s an outbreak going around \u2013 even if you are as careful as possible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yes, outbreaks in hospitals happen, and yes, they can affect both patients and staff when they do. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you suspect you have contracted something during a hospital stay, your first step should be to make an appointment with your doctor and be tested.
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13. Contamination in Biohazard Disposal<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Any materials that have been classed as biohazardous have to be disposed of in special ways by people who have been trained and certified to do it. Hospitals, clinics and any other companies or institutions that work with it have very strict rules concerning what should be done when biohazard materials are disposed of \u2013 but it’s a horrifying truth that not all companies and institutions stick to the rules.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The disposal of any H. Pylori containing materials has to be done in specific ways in order to destroy the material and eradicate the chances of the bacteria <\/a>surviving and spreading from a waste site.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But it still happens, and usually when the rules aren’t properly adhered to.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On a smaller scale, this can also happen in the home when \u2013 as an example \u2013 tissues are thrown away in the same bin as everything else, where it has the chance to infect the rest of the household.
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14. Reinfection with H. Pylori<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

One of the things that makes the H. Pylori bacteria so dangerous is the fact that it can appear to stay dormant in the human body for weeks to months at a time. During this time period, you’ll go back to experience no symptoms <\/a>and you’ll be almost entirely sure that you’ve healed \u2013 but as soon as this time period is over, you’ll start to experience the same symptoms you did before until they heal over.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is common for H. Pylori infections, and because the bouts of infection and symptoms happen so far apart, it makes it hard to diagnose for what it is and too often gets mistaken for isolated incidents of food poisoning. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you notice that you’re getting what seems like food poisoning more than once in a short time period or if it keeps happening every few months, have yourself tested for H. Pylori as soon as possible.
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