Helicobacter pylori

Helicobacter pylori is a spiral shaped bacterium. It lives on the gastric epithelium under the mucus layer of the stomach and duodenum. The bacterium is thought to damage this mucus layer, which is the stomach and duodenum's natural protection from gastric acids. Local inflammation caused by the bacterial infection and exposure to these acids can damage the lining of the stomach and duodenum, eventually leading to ulceration and possibly gastric cancer.

Image: Laboratory of Enteric Pathogens, Helicobacter Reference Unit