Resistance to antibiotics used to treat harmful stomach infection doubles in 20 years, new study finds

The study, which analysed 1,232 patients from 18 countries* across Europe, investigated resistance to antibiotics regularly taken for Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infection, a harmful bacterium associated with gastric ulcer, lymphoma and gastric cancer. Resistance to clarithromycin, one of the most established antimicrobials used to eradicate H. pylori, had increased from 9.9% in 1998 to 21.6% last year, with increases in resistance also seen for levofloxacin and metronidazole.