Your H. pylori Test Is Still Positive... But Do You Still Have H. pylori?

Your H. pylori Test Is Still Positive... But Do You Still Have H. pylori? I WANT TO SHARE ANOTHER REASON WHY YOUR H. PYLORI TEST RESULTS MAY STILL BE READING POSITIVE EVEN AFTER TREATMENT. HI, I'M DOCTOR EMI THOMPSON, A MEDICAL LABORATORY SCIENTIST AND TODAY LET'S CONTINUE ON OUR SERIES SIMPLIFYING H. PYLORI TESTING. LAST WEEK HOW RE INFECTION CAN OCCUR AFTER SUCCESSFUL TREATMENT OF AN H. PYLORI BACTERIA. BUT ANOTHER REASON A TEST RESULT MAY STILL APPEAR POSITIVE IS THE TYPE THAT WAS USED FOR THE H. PYLORI TEST. ONE COMMON TEST IS THE H. PYLORI ANTIBODY BLOOD TEST. THIS TEST LOOKS FOR ANTIBODIES PRODUCED BY YOUR IMMUNE SYSTEM WHEN IT ENCOUNTERS AN H. PYLORI BACTERIA. THE CHALLENGE ABOUT THAT EVEN AFTER SUCCESSFUL TREATMENT THESE ANTIBODIES CAN REMAIN IN THE BLOOD FOR MANY MONTHS. SO A POSITIVE ANTIBODY TEST DOES NOT ALWAYS HAVE AN ACTIVE INFECTION. THIS IS WHY ANTIBODY TESTING IS GENERALLY NOT THE PREFERRED METHOD FOR CONFIRMING WHETHER YOUR TREATMENT FOR HPYLORI HAS WORKED OR NOT. THERE ARE TESTS THAT ACTUALLY DETECT ACTIVE INFECTION AND THESE ARE USUALLY MORE USEFUL FOR CONFIRMATION TEST. THESE INCLUDE YOUR UREA BREATH TEST WHICH DETECTS ACTIVE H. PYLORI BACTERIA IN THE STOMACH AND YOUR H. PYLORI STOOL ANTIGEN TEST WHICH DETECTS ACTIVE H. PYLORI ANTIGEN IN THE STOOL. ANOTHER IMPORTANT POINT FOLLOW UP TESTING SHOULD USUALLY BE DONE AT LEAST 4 WEEKS AFTER TREATMENT. OTHERWISE YOUR RESULTS MAY NOT BE RELIABLE. SO IF YOUR H. PYLORI TEST IS POSITIVE AFTER TREATMENT, ONE IMPORTANT QUESTION ASK YOURSELF, WHAT TYPE OF TEST WAS USED FOR THE CONFIRMATION TEST AFTER TREATMENTS? BECAUSE NOT EVERY POSITIVE RESULT MEANS AN ACTIVE INFECTION. TODAY, LET ME ASK MY QUESTION FOR TODAY. DID YOU KNOW THAT SOME H. PYLORI TEST CAN REMAIN POSITIVE EVEN AFTER SUCCESSFUL TREATMENT? LET ME KNOW IN THE COMMENT SECTION. SEE YOU NEXT TIME. BYE.