Editor,—We would like to thank Professor MacDonald for his interest in our work, and for his recent comment on our paper ((2001) Gut 48:10–11.OpenUrlCrossRefPubMedWeb of Science). However, we must take issue with a number of his comments.

With respect to the clinical implications of our study,1 we have not advocated treatment ofHelicobacter pylori infected patients with intestinal parasites for the purpose of inducing a shift in the Th1/Th2 immune response, a possibility raised by Professor MacDonald. As Professor MacDonald is well aware, this approach has been suggested for a number of chronic diseases such as inflammatory bowel disease. However, in the case of chronic H pylori infection, antibiotic therapy has proved effective and in our opinion is a much safer and more palatable approach for most patients.

We appreciate Professor MacDonald's careful analysis of our histopathological results. However, we are confused regarding his comments of “negative …