Review for 10.1186/s12876-018-0775-1 (2018)

Reviewer ’s report  
 
Title: Dietary habits and Helicobacter pylori infection: A cross sec tional study at a tertiary care 
center in Lebanon  
 
Version: 1 Date: 17 Mar 2018  
 
Reviewer: Mansour Shahraki  
 
Reviewer's report:  
 
I would like to thank the authors for meticulous responses to my comments. Their responses are 
satisfactory. However, several m inor comments are still exist, which are as follows:  
 
 
 
1) In page 1, lines 19 -29, the authors reviewed several studies regarding the association of diet -
H.pylori infection. It should be noted that all studies except for one (i.e. reference 11 ) are 
relativel y old ( before the year 2000). It is recommended that the authors should highlight the 
results of new studies conducted on this topic. For example, one of the recent studies conducted 
by Eslami et al. had investigated the association of diet -H.pylori infec tion in a group of Iranian 
young students. In this study, lower consumption of raw vegetables was significantly associated 
with higher risk of H.pylori infection. I assume that the results of this study may be more 
relevant to the present article. (Eslami O, Shahraki M, Shahraki T, Ansari H. Association of 
Helicobacter pylori infection with metabolic parameters and dietary habits among medical 
undergraduate students in southeastern of Iran. J Res Med Sci 2017;22:12.)  
 
 
 
2. In page 1, line 19: "Relatively few studies worldwide have investigated the relationship 
between dietary patterns and H. pylori [16]", as well as page 2, line 1:" Research conducted in 
the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region on the association between H. pylori and diet 
is scarce"; Th e authors have been mentioned that there are limited numbers of studies in this 
topic worldwide and also, the Middle east. However, there are fairly considerable amounts of 
literature on the diet -infection relationship in the world an also the Middle -east. While it should 
be noted that the researches are limited in Lebanon. Please rephrase these sentences.  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Are the met hods 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 manus cript or would you recommend an 
additional statistical review?  
If an a dditional 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 interests, considering the following questions:  
 
1. Have you in the past five years received reimbursements, fees, funding, or s alary from an 
organisation that may in any way gain or lose financial ly from the publication of this 
manuscript, either now or in the 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 the 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 you have any non -financial competing interests in relation to this paper?  
If you can answer no to al l 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 interest.  
 
I agree to the open peer review policy of the journal. I understand that my na me will be included 
on my report to the authors and, if the manuscript is accepted f or publication, my named report 
including any attachments I upload will be posted on the website along with the authors' 
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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 n ot be published.  
 
I agree to the open peer review policy of the journal