Rapid diagnosis and treatment application in the early stages of H. pylori infection plays an important part in inhibiting the transmission of this infection as this bacterium is involved in various gastric pathologies such as gastritis, gastro-duodenal ulcer, and even gastric neoplasia. This review is devoted to a quick overview of conventional and advanced detection techniques successfully applied to the detection of H. pylori in the context of a compelling need to upgrade the standards of the diagnostic methods which are currently being used. Selecting the best diagnostic method implies evaluating different features, the use of one or another test depending on accessibility, laboratories equipment, and the clinical conditions of patients. This paper aims to expose the diagnosis methods for H. pylori that are currently available, highlighting their assets and limitations. The perspectives and the advantages of nanotechnology along with the concept of nano(bio)sensors and the development of lab-on-chip devices as advanced tools for H. pylori detection, differentiation, and discrimination is also presented, by emphasizing multiple advantages: simple, fast, cost-effective, portable, miniaturized, small volume of samples required, highly sensitive, and selective. It is generally accepted that the development of intelligent sensors will completely revolutionize the acquisition procedure and medical decision in the framework of smart healthcare monitoring systems.

Background and Objectives: Antibiotics are the most frequently prescribed drugs in hospitals and their prescription is increased during pregnancy and labor. There are limited data about this issue, and the safe use of antibiotics in pregnancy and antibiotic resistance remains a concern. The aim of the study is to evaluate the use of antibiotics among pregnant women attending hospital for five years. Materials and Methods: Antibiotic consumption and treatment information of patients were retrospectively collected from a hospital software program and expressed as defined daily dose (DDD) according to the World Health Organization (WHO) methodology for inpatients between 2017 and 2021. We evaluated antibiotic prescription by name, classes, and Food and Drug Administration (FDA) categories. Results: Antibiotic consumption shows a decreasing trend between 2017 and 2019, but an increasing one between 2020 and 2021. Ceftriaxone was the most prescribed antibiotic in each year, followed by cefixime, amoxicillin, metronidazole, cefuroxime, ampicillin, and ciprofloxacin. We noticed that first- and fourth-generation cephalosporins were not prescribed to these patients. A very small percentage of women in this study received antibiotics such as aminoglycosides; fluoroquinolones were generally contraindicated in the perinatal period. A large percentage of prescriptions were antibiotics classified as category B by the FDA. The most common infections that occurred in the perinatal period were those of the kidney and urinary tract in a higher number than in other studies. Conclusions: Our study shows that many classes of antibiotics used in perinatal women belong to category B antibiotics, the most prescribed being cephalosporins. Because of insufficient safety evidence and the potential for teratogenic effects on the fetus, restricted use among the category C and D antibiotic classes was seen and anticipated. Improving maternal health requires the involvement of healthcare experts in risk assessment and evaluation of existing data for appropriate antibiotic selection, dose, duration of medication, and monitoring.