Reviewer's report
Title:Beyond Maastricht IV: Are standard empiric triple therapies for Helicobacter
pylori still useful in a South-European country?
Version:3Date:5 September 2014
Reviewer: COLM O'MORAIN
Reviewer's report:
This is an interesting report showing that ppi amoxicillin and clarithromycin given
twice a day for two weeks and rescue treatment of ppi amoxicillin and
levofloxacin given twice a day for 10days were ineffective in treating H pylori
infection
The study was carefully done
Relatively small numbers However this is explained
Excellent result in getting culture on all samples submitted
I note that the culture and antibiotic sensitivities were not considered when
prescribing treatment
How long did it take to get antibiotic sensitivities back and should a
recommendation be made to hod treatment until this information is available
The dose of levofloxacin was 250mgs bd should they not use 500 mgs This
might explain the poor result obtained even in the sensitive strains
Is there any explanation for the female predominance
The side effects and I note one was considered severe are not described
The authors found that antibiotic sensitivity was the major reason for failure and
is the major point of the study
Previous infection was also associated with treatment failure which I suspect is
due to antibiotic exposure which is discussed in text
Smoking was also a variable associated with failure The authors were careful
regarding compliance but smoking could be a surrogate of poor compliance
Interesting result on the genotype which was not found to be significant on
multivariate analysis but maybe due to small numbers
Ce
Level of interest: An article of importance in its field
Quality of written English: Needs some language corrections before being
published
Statistical review: Yes, and I have assessed the statistics in my report.
Declaration of competing interests:
I declare that I have no competing interests
Reviewer's report
Title:Beyond Maastricht IV: Are standard empiric triple therapies for Helicobacter
pylori still useful in a South-European country?
Version:3Date:5 September 2014
Reviewer: COLM O'MORAIN
Reviewer's report:
This is an interesting report showing that ppi amoxicillin and clarithromycin given
twice a day for two weeks and rescue treatment of ppi amoxicillin and
levofloxacin given twice a day for 10days were ineffective in treating H pylori
infection
The study was carefully done
Relatively small numbers However this is explained
Excellent result in getting culture on all samples submitted
I note that the culture and antibiotic sensitivities were not considered when
prescribing treatment
How long did it take to get antibiotic sensitivities back and should a
recommendation be made to hod treatment until this information is available
The dose of levofloxacin was 250mgs bd should they not use 500 mgs This
might explain the poor result obtained even in the sensitive strains
Is there any explanation for the female predominance
The side effects and I note one was considered severe are not described
The authors found that antibiotic sensitivity was the major reason for failure and
is the major point of the study
Previous infection was also associated with treatment failure which I suspect is
due to antibiotic exposure which is discussed in text
Smoking was also a variable associated with failure The authors were careful
regarding compliance but smoking could be a surrogate of poor compliance
Interesting result on the genotype which was not found to be significant on
multivariate analysis but maybe due to small numbers
Ce
Level of interest: An article of importance in its field
Quality of written English: Needs some language corrections before being
published
Statistical review: Yes, and I have assessed the statistics in my report.
Declaration of competing interests:
I declare that I have no competing interests
Please review this paper.
user
Reviewer's report
Title:Beyond Maastricht IV: Are standard empiric triple therapies for Helicobacter
pylori still useful in a South-European country?
Version:3Date:5 September 2014
Reviewer: COLM O'MORAIN
Reviewer's report:
This is an interesting report showing that ppi amoxicillin and clarithromycin given
twice a day for two weeks and rescue treatment of ppi amoxicillin and
levofloxacin given twice a day for 10days were ineffective in treating H pylori
infection
The study was carefully done
Relatively small numbers However this is explained
Excellent result in getting culture on all samples submitted
I note that the culture and antibiotic sensitivities were not considered when
prescribing treatment
How long did it take to get antibiotic sensitivities back and should a
recommendation be made to hod treatment until this information is available
The dose of levofloxacin was 250mgs bd should they not use 500 mgs This
might explain the poor result obtained even in the sensitive strains
Is there any explanation for the female predominance
The side effects and I note one was considered severe are not described
The authors found that antibiotic sensitivity was the major reason for failure and
is the major point of the study
Previous infection was also associated with treatment failure which I suspect is
due to antibiotic exposure which is discussed in text
Smoking was also a variable associated with failure The authors were careful
regarding compliance but smoking could be a surrogate of poor compliance
Interesting result on the genotype which was not found to be significant on
multivariate analysis but maybe due to small numbers
Ce
Level of interest: An article of importance in its field
Quality of written English: Needs some language corrections before being
published
Statistical review: Yes, and I have assessed the statistics in my report.
Declaration of competing interests:
I declare that I have no competing interests
assistant