eng Oriental Scientific Publishing Company Biomedical and Pharmacology Journal 0974-6242 2026-05-20 19 2 71912 article Nahla Ahmed Mohamed 1 Eman Refaat Youness 2 Marwa Ali Mahmoud 2 Mina Wassef Girgiss 3 Omaima Mostafa Badran 4 Hanaa Reyad Abdallah 5 Department of Pediatrics, El Galaa Teaching Hospital, General Organization of Teaching Hospitals and Institutes, Cairo, Egypt Medical Biochemistry Department, Medical Research and Clinical Studies Institute, National Research Centre, Cairo, Egypt Medical Research and Clinical Studies Institute, National Research Centre, Cairo, Egypt. Department of Hepatology &Gastroenterology, Theodor Bilharz Research Institute, ImbabaGiza, Egypt. Biological Anthropology Department, Medical Research and Clinical Studies Institute– National Research Centre, Cairo, Egypt. Helicobacter pylori(H. pylori) infection has been implicated in refractory iron deficiency anemia (IDA) in children, raising concern due to its potential impact on growth and development. We aimed to determine the occurrence of H. pylori infection in children with IDA, its association with refractoriness to oral iron therapy, and its impact on growth.100 children participated in this cross-sectional study aged 4–12 years with IDA who failed to respond to 6 weeks of therapeutic iron supplementation. Participants, recruited from El Galaa Teaching Hospital, underwent full clinical assessment, anthropometry, and laboratory evaluation for IDA indices, H. pylori infection liver and kidney functions.H. pylori infection was detected in 77% of patients. Children who were infected had much lower BMI Z-scores, hematocrit (P = 0.001), hemoglobin (P < 0.001), serum iron (P < 0.001), and ferritin (P = 0.003), and significantly higher TIBC (P < 0.001) than uninfected children. H. pylori infection correlated negatively with BMI Z-score, Hb, Ht, MCV, serum iron, and ferritin (P < 0.05), and positively with TIBC (P < 0.001). Z-scores for height and weight showed no discernible variations.H. pylori infection is strongly relatedto refractory IDA and should be investigated in all affected cases. Although no association with linear growth was observed, H. pylori was negatively linked with nutritional status, reflected by lower BMI Z-scores. https://biomedpharmajournal.org/vol19no2/prevalence-of-helicobacter-pylori-infection-in-a-sample-of-egyptian-children-with-refractory-iron-deficiency-anemia/ Growth impairment Helicobacter pylori Interleukin- 6 Iron deficiency anemia Refractory iron deficiency anemia