Reviewer ’s report  
 
Title: Topic: Detection of Helicobacter pylori and its virulen ce genes (cagA, dupA, and vacA) 
among patients with gastroduodenal diseases in Chris Hani  Baragwanath Academic Hospital, 
South Africa  
 
Version: 0 Date: 24 Nov 2018  
 
Reviewer: Amin Talebi Bezmin Abadi  
 
Reviewer's report:  
 
Dear Authors  
 
 
I have read the paper entitled ''Detection of Helicobacter pylori and its virulence gen es (cagA, 
dupA, and vacA) among patients with gastroduodenal diseases in Chris Hani  Baragwanath 
Academic Hospital, South Africa'' submitted to the journal BMC -G.  
 
 
 
Comments are listed in below,  
 
1- One of main concern is that the authors should explain why they chose cag,vac and dupA as 
virulence genes? which reference confirm it?  
 
I would suggest babA and homB as new ones to be more informative! However, this decision 
should be clarified in introducti on & discussion sections together.  
 
 
2-I would suggest to remove the name of hospital from the title. Not a necessary one  
 
 
3- keywords should be written without paranthesis  
 
 
4- There is no clear conclusion in abstract. Please add more informative and  strai ght sentence 
there!  
 
 
5- Page 5 line 5 -8, quite not necessary text! remove it  
 
 
6- Page 5 line 8  needs ref!  
 
 
7- Page 5 line 10, needs reference such as below,  
 
Helicobacter pylori dupA gene is not associated with clinical outc omes in the Japanese 
population LT Nguyen, T Uchida, Y Tsukamoto… - Clinical Microbiology …, 2010 - Wiley 
Online Library  
 
 
Infection with Helicobacter pylori strains lacking dupA is associat ed with an increased risk of 
gastric ulcer  and gastric cancer development ATB Abadi, T Taghvaei… - Journal of medical …, 
2012 - jmm.microbiologyresearch.org  
 
Significant association of the dupA gene of Helicobacter pylori with duodenal ulcer development 
in a South -east Indian population J Alam, S Maiti, P Ghosh, R De… - Journal of …, 2012 - 
jmm.microbiologyresearch.org  
 
 
8- I donot see any ethical approval for this study, if not, add it in revised version  
 
 
9- page 6 line 14, add the proper reference  
 
 
10- page 6 line 21, correct the gradient sign! this is incorrect!  
 
 
11- result and other parts of methods are fine  
 
 
12- Not a good discussion section, I donot like it, do  a full google in the google -scholar for these 
virulence factor and make a nice  literature  review and then write the discussion section,  
 
AFTER these sort of revisions, I would see the revised version before final decision,  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Are the methods appropriate and well described?  
If not, please specify what is required in your comments to the authors.  
 
Yes 
 
Does the work include the necessary controls?  
If not, please specify which controls are r equired in your comments to the authors.  
 
Yes 
 
Are the conclusions drawn adequately supported by the data shown?  
If not, please explain in your comments to the authors.  
 
Yes 
 
Are you able to assess any statistics in the manuscript or would you rec ommend an 
additional statistical review?  
If an additional statistical review is recommended, please speci fy what aspects require further 
assessment in your comments to the editors.  
 
I am able to assess the statistics  
 
Quality of written English  
Please indicat e the quality of language in the manuscript:  
 
Needs some language corrections before being published  
 
Declaration of competing interests  
Please complete a declaration of competing interests, considering the following questions:  
 
1. Have you in the past five years received reimbursements, f ees, funding, or salary from an 
organisation that may in any way gain or lose financial ly from the publication of this 
manuscript, either now or in the future?  
 
2. Do you hold any stocks or shares in an organisation t hat may in any way gain or lose 
financially from the publication of this manuscript, either now or in the future?  
 
3. Do you hold or are you currently applying for any patents  relating to the content of the 
manuscript?  
 
4. Have you receiv ed reimbursements, fees, funding, or salary from an organization that 
holds or has applied for patents relating to the content of the manuscript?  
 
5. Do you have any other financial competing interests?  
 
6. Do you have any non -financial competing interests i n relation to this paper?  
If you can answer no to all of the above, write 'I declare that I have  no competing interests' 
below. If your reply is yes to any, please give details below.  
 
none  
 
I agree to the open peer review policy of the jou rnal. I understan d that my name will be included 
on my report to the authors and, if the manuscript is accepted f or publication, my named report 
including any attachments I upload will be posted on the website along with the authors' 
responses. I agree for my report to be made available under an Open Access Creative C ommons 
CC-BY license ( http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ ). I understand that any comments 
which I do not wish to be included in my named report can be included as  confidential comments 
to the editors, which will not be published.  
 
I agree to the open peer review policy of the journal  
Reviewer ’s report  
 
Title: Topic: Detection of Helicobacter pylori and its virulen ce genes (cagA, dupA, and vacA) 
among patients with gastroduodenal diseases in Chris Hani  Baragwanath Academic Hospital, 
South Africa  
 
Version: 0 Date: 24 Nov 2018  
 
Reviewer: Amin Talebi Bezmin Abadi  
 
Reviewer's report:  
 
Dear Authors  
 
 
I have read the paper entitled ''Detection of Helicobacter pylori and its virulence gen es (cagA, 
dupA, and vacA) among patients with gastroduodenal diseases in Chris Hani  Baragwanath 
Academic Hospital, South Africa'' submitted to the journal BMC -G.  
 
 
 
Comments are listed in below,  
 
1- One of main concern is that the authors should explain why they chose cag,vac and dupA as 
virulence genes? which reference confirm it?  
 
I would suggest babA and homB as new ones to be more informative! However, this decision 
should be clarified in introducti on & discussion sections together.  
 
 
2-I would suggest to remove the name of hospital from the title. Not a necessary one  
 
 
3- keywords should be written without paranthesis  
 
 
4- There is no clear conclusion in abstract. Please add more informative and  strai ght sentence 
there!  
 
 
5- Page 5 line 5 -8, quite not necessary text! remove it  
 
 
6- Page 5 line 8  needs ref!  
 
 
7- Page 5 line 10, needs reference such as below,  
 
Helicobacter pylori dupA gene is not associated with clinical outc omes in the Japanese 
population LT Nguyen, T Uchida, Y Tsukamoto… - Clinical Microbiology …, 2010 - Wiley 
Online Library  
 
 
Infection with Helicobacter pylori strains lacking dupA is associat ed with an increased risk of 
gastric ulcer  and gastric cancer development ATB Abadi, T Taghvaei… - Journal of medical …, 
2012 - jmm.microbiologyresearch.org  
 
Significant association of the dupA gene of Helicobacter pylori with duodenal ulcer development 
in a South -east Indian population J Alam, S Maiti, P Ghosh, R De… - Journal of …, 2012 - 
jmm.microbiologyresearch.org  
 
 
8- I donot see any ethical approval for this study, if not, add it in revised version  
 
 
9- page 6 line 14, add the proper reference  
 
 
10- page 6 line 21, correct the gradient sign! this is incorrect!  
 
 
11- result and other parts of methods are fine  
 
 
12- Not a good discussion section, I donot like it, do  a full google in the google -scholar for these 
virulence factor and make a nice  literature  review and then write the discussion section,  
 
AFTER these sort of revisions, I would see the revised version before final decision,  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Are the methods appropriate and well described?  
If not, please specify what is required in your comments to the authors.  
 
Yes 
 
Does the work include the necessary controls?  
If not, please specify which controls are r equired in your comments to the authors.  
 
Yes 
 
Are the conclusions drawn adequately supported by the data shown?  
If not, please explain in your comments to the authors.  
 
Yes 
 
Are you able to assess any statistics in the manuscript or would you rec ommend an 
additional statistical review?  
If an additional statistical review is recommended, please speci fy what aspects require further 
assessment in your comments to the editors.  
 
I am able to assess the statistics  
 
Quality of written English  
Please indicat e the quality of language in the manuscript:  
 
Needs some language corrections before being published  
 
Declaration of competing interests  
Please complete a declaration of competing interests, considering the following questions:  
 
1. Have you in the past five years received reimbursements, f ees, funding, or salary from an 
organisation that may in any way gain or lose financial ly from the publication of this 
manuscript, either now or in the future?  
 
2. Do you hold any stocks or shares in an organisation t hat may in any way gain or lose 
financially from the publication of this manuscript, either now or in the future?  
 
3. Do you hold or are you currently applying for any patents  relating to the content of the 
manuscript?  
 
4. Have you receiv ed reimbursements, fees, funding, or salary from an organization that 
holds or has applied for patents relating to the content of the manuscript?  
 
5. Do you have any other financial competing interests?  
 
6. Do you have any non -financial competing interests i n relation to this paper?  
If you can answer no to all of the above, write 'I declare that I have  no competing interests' 
below. If your reply is yes to any, please give details below.  
 
none  
 
I agree to the open peer review policy of the jou rnal. I understan d that my name will be included 
on my report to the authors and, if the manuscript is accepted f or publication, my named report 
including any attachments I upload will be posted on the website along with the authors' 
responses. I agree for my report to be made available under an Open Access Creative C ommons 
CC-BY license ( http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ ). I understand that any comments 
which I do not wish to be included in my named report can be included as  confidential comments 
to the editors, which will not be published.  
 
I agree to the open peer review policy of the journal  
Please review this paper.
user
Reviewer ’s report  
 
Title: Topic: Detection of Helicobacter pylori and its virulen ce genes (cagA, dupA, and vacA) 
among patients with gastroduodenal diseases in Chris Hani  Baragwanath Academic Hospital, 
South Africa  
 
Version: 0 Date: 24 Nov 2018  
 
Reviewer: Amin Talebi Bezmin Abadi  
 
Reviewer's report:  
 
Dear Authors  
 
 
I have read the paper entitled ''Detection of Helicobacter pylori and its virulence gen es (cagA, 
dupA, and vacA) among patients with gastroduodenal diseases in Chris Hani  Baragwanath 
Academic Hospital, South Africa'' submitted to the journal BMC -G.  
 
 
 
Comments are listed in below,  
 
1- One of main concern is that the authors should explain why they chose cag,vac and dupA as 
virulence genes? which reference confirm it?  
 
I would suggest babA and homB as new ones to be more informative! However, this decision 
should be clarified in introducti on & discussion sections together.  
 
 
2-I would suggest to remove the name of hospital from the title. Not a necessary one  
 
 
3- keywords should be written without paranthesis  
 
 
4- There is no clear conclusion in abstract. Please add more informative and  strai ght sentence 
there!  
 
 
5- Page 5 line 5 -8, quite not necessary text! remove it  
 
 
6- Page 5 line 8  needs ref!  
 
 
7- Page 5 line 10, needs reference such as below,  
 
Helicobacter pylori dupA gene is not associated with clinical outc omes in the Japanese 
population LT Nguyen, T Uchida, Y Tsukamoto… - Clinical Microbiology …, 2010 - Wiley 
Online Library  
 
 
Infection with Helicobacter pylori strains lacking dupA is associat ed with an increased risk of 
gastric ulcer  and gastric cancer development ATB Abadi, T Taghvaei… - Journal of medical …, 
2012 - jmm.microbiologyresearch.org  
 
Significant association of the dupA gene of Helicobacter pylori with duodenal ulcer development 
in a South -east Indian population J Alam, S Maiti, P Ghosh, R De… - Journal of …, 2012 - 
jmm.microbiologyresearch.org  
 
 
8- I donot see any ethical approval for this study, if not, add it in revised version  
 
 
9- page 6 line 14, add the proper reference  
 
 
10- page 6 line 21, correct the gradient sign! this is incorrect!  
 
 
11- result and other parts of methods are fine  
 
 
12- Not a good discussion section, I donot like it, do  a full google in the google -scholar for these 
virulence factor and make a nice  literature  review and then write the discussion section,  
 
AFTER these sort of revisions, I would see the revised version before final decision,  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Are the methods appropriate and well described?  
If not, please specify what is required in your comments to the authors.  
 
Yes 
 
Does the work include the necessary controls?  
If not, please specify which controls are r equired in your comments to the authors.  
 
Yes 
 
Are the conclusions drawn adequately supported by the data shown?  
If not, please explain in your comments to the authors.  
 
Yes 
 
Are you able to assess any statistics in the manuscript or would you rec ommend an 
additional statistical review?  
If an additional statistical review is recommended, please speci fy what aspects require further 
assessment in your comments to the editors.  
 
I am able to assess the statistics  
 
Quality of written English  
Please indicat e the quality of language in the manuscript:  
 
Needs some language corrections before being published  
 
Declaration of competing interests  
Please complete a declaration of competing interests, considering the following questions:  
 
1. Have you in the past five years received reimbursements, f ees, funding, or salary from an 
organisation that may in any way gain or lose financial ly from the publication of this 
manuscript, either now or in the future?  
 
2. Do you hold any stocks or shares in an organisation t hat may in any way gain or lose 
financially from the publication of this manuscript, either now or in the future?  
 
3. Do you hold or are you currently applying for any patents  relating to the content of the 
manuscript?  
 
4. Have you receiv ed reimbursements, fees, funding, or salary from an organization that 
holds or has applied for patents relating to the content of the manuscript?  
 
5. Do you have any other financial competing interests?  
 
6. Do you have any non -financial competing interests i n relation to this paper?  
If you can answer no to all of the above, write 'I declare that I have  no competing interests' 
below. If your reply is yes to any, please give details below.  
 
none  
 
I agree to the open peer review policy of the jou rnal. I understan d that my name will be included 
on my report to the authors and, if the manuscript is accepted f or publication, my named report 
including any attachments I upload will be posted on the website along with the authors' 
responses. I agree for my report to be made available under an Open Access Creative C ommons 
CC-BY license ( http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ ). I understand that any comments 
which I do not wish to be included in my named report can be included as  confidential comments 
to the editors, which will not be published.  
 
I agree to the open peer review policy of the journal  
assistant