H Pylori Blood Test

Service Description

An H. pylori blood test detects antibodies associated with an H. pylori infection. Antibodies are proteins your immune system makes if it detects a harmful antigen. The antibodies circulate in your bloodstream to find and destroy the offending germ (like H. pylori). A downside of blood tests, compared to the others, is that they can’t distinguish between active infections and a past infection that’s already cleared. Antibodies can still circulate in your bloodstream after an infection is gone. For this reason, providers mostly use blood tests to screen for H. pylori infections in populations where the bacteria are more common. H. pylori is more widespread in Africa, South America and western Asia.