It has been recognized HP as an agent associated with digestive disease in adults. In poor countries infection by HP begins in infancy, but is not frequent to find HP in antral biopsies. We have studied prospectively and consecutively 64 children with digestive symptoms evaluated by endoscopy, ureasa test and histology followed during 1994-95 at the Children's Hospital in Lima, Perú. Age ranged 0-14years; median 7years, 64% were boys. Gastrointestinal symptoms were acute or chronic, there was vomiting in 30%, high intestinal acute bleeding in 25%, abdominal pain in 17%, and other symptoms in 28%. Incidence of positive biopsies was 47%. Infected children were older (8 vs 4,5 years p=0.04), had more recurrent abdominal pain (72% vs 36%, p=0,4), endoccopic diagnosis of acute gastritis or nodular antritis was more fequent (82% vs 39% p= 0.0001). Results showed that prevalence of HP infection in Peruvian children with abdominal pain was high, and that HP in antral patology is not unfrequent.