Review for 10.1186/s12876-019-0934-z (2019)

Reviewer ’s report  
 
Title: Helicobacter pylori vacA, cagA and iceA genotypes  in dyspeptic patients from the 
southwestern region of Saudi Arabia: Distribution and associa tion with clinical outcomes and 
histopathological changes  
 
Version: 1 Date: 20 Oct 2018  
 
Reviewer: Myriam Angélica De La Garza -Ramos  
 
Reviewer's report:  
 
Comment 1. The title of the manuscript is very extensive, you can write more accurately and 
directly.  
 
Comment 2. In the background section  of abstract you can add a senten ce about the justification 
or reason for your study.  
 
Comment 3. What was the reason for using the chi -square test in all the statistical analysis? It is 
important to use the exact Fisher test when the chi -square test is invalid.  
 
Comment 4. it is necessar y to graph the results of Figure 3 in other programs such as originlab, 
spss, etc.  
 
Comment 5. In the discussion section it is necessary to add the most recent studies of 
Helicobacter pylori prevalence and genotypes in Latin American countries and compare them 
with your results. In addition, it is necessary to provide a possible explanation about the 
coincidence or discrepancy of your results with those.  
 
 
 
Are the methods appropriate and well described?  
If not, please specify what is required in your comments to the authors.  
 
Yes 
 
Does the work include the necessary controls?  
If not, please specify which controls  are required in your comments to the authors.  
 
Yes 
 
Are the conclusions drawn adequately supported by the data shown?  
If not, please explain in your comments to the authors.  
 
Yes 
 
Are you able to assess any statistics in the manuscript or would you recommend an  
additional statistical review?  
If an additional statistical review is recommended, please speci fy what aspects require further 
assessment in your comments to the editors.  
 
I am able to assess the statistics  
 
Quality of written English  
Please indicate the quality of language in the manuscript:  
 
Acceptable  
 
Declaration of competing interests  
Please complete a declaration of competing in terests, considering the following questions:  
 
1. Have you in the past five years received reimbursements, f ees, funding, or salary from an 
organisation that may in any way gain or lose financial ly from the publication of this 
manuscript, either now or in t he future?  
 
2. Do you hold any stocks or shares in an organisation t hat may in any way gain or lose 
financially from the publication of this manuscript, either now or in the future?  
 
3. Do you hold or are you currently applying for any patents relating to th e content of the 
manuscript?  
 
4. Have you received reimbursements, fees, funding, or salary from an organization that 
holds or has applied for patents relating to the content of the manuscript?  
 
5. Do you have any other financial competing interests?  
 
6. Do y ou have any non -financial competing interests in relation to this paper?  
 
If you can answer no to all of the above, write 'I declare that I have  no competing interests' 
below. If your reply is yes to any, please give details below.  
 
I declare that I have no competing interests  
 
I agree to the open peer review policy of the journal. I understan d that my name will be included 
on my report to the authors and, if the manuscript is accepted f or publication, my named repor t 
including any attachments I upload will be  posted on the website along with the authors' 
responses. I agree for my report to be made available under an Open Access Creative Commons 
CC-BY license ( http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ ). I understand that any comments 
which I do not wish to be included in my named report can be in cluded as confidential comments 
to the editors, which will not be published.  
 
I agree to the open peer review policy of the journal