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Background: It is known that blood group antigens are related to the development of peptic ulcer and gastric carcinoma. Infections due to H. pylori are most widespread among the developing regions due to poor standard of public health. This study sought to determine the association of H. pylori with ABO blood groups, age, gender, and smoking status among inpatients at a public sector hospital in Karachi. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted at endoscopy suite at a public sector hospital in Karachi in the year 2011. All the symptomatic patients coming for upper GIT endoscopy were included in this study. Results: Biopsy for histopathology was taken from 93 patients, with an age range from 15-65 years. Age group of 15 to 20 years was found to be associated with H. pylori infection but without significance (p-value 0.83). In all, 36 (38.7%) turned out to be H. pylori positive with a significant male preponderance (p=0.04). Distribution of ABO blood groups in H. pylori positive group were A=31.4%, B=15.4%, AB=25.0% and O=53.7%, with a statistically significant link for blood group O (p=0.05) . Rhesus factor was also compared but significant relationship was evident (p-value 0.73). Conclusions: This study demonstrated that H. pylori infection can be related to ABO blood group, middle age persons and male gender. People of blood group O are more prone to develop infection related gastritis, ulcers, and even perforations, so they should be more cautious against transmission of the bacterium.

Background: Use of smoke-less tobacco (SLT) is very common in South and South-East Asian countries. It is significantly associated with various types of cancers. The objectives of this study were to assess the proportion of hospital staff that use SLT, and to identify the factors associated with its use and their practices. Methods: In a cross-sectional study, 560 staff of two tertiary care hospitals were interviewed in the year 2009. Nurses, ward boys and technicians were counted as a paramedic staff while drivers, peons, security guards and housekeeping staff were labeled as non-paramedic staff. SLT use was considered as usage of any of the following: betel quid (paan) with or without tobacco, betel nuts with or without tobacco (gutkha) and snuff (naswar). Results: About half (48.6%) of the hospital staff were using at least one type of SLT. Factors found to be statistically significant with SLT were being a male (OR=2.5; 95% CI=1.8-3.7); having no/fewer years of education (OR=1.7; 95% CI=1.2-2.4) and working as non-paramedic staff (OR=2.6; 95% CI=1.8-3.8). Majority of SLT users were using it on regular basis, for > 5 years and keeping the tobacco products in the oral cavity for >30 minutes. About half of the users started due to peer pressure and had tried to quit this habit but failed. Conclusion: In this study, about half of the study participants were using SLT in different forms. We suggest educational and behavioral interventions for control of SLT usage.