We thank Drs Molina-Infante and Gisbert1 for their letter and for their appreciation of our study.2 We completely agree that the discrepancy between their study and our study as to the efficacy of levofloxacin-containing sequential treatment in Helicobacter pylori eradication might be at least in part due to the very low (ie, 3%) prevalence of H pylori strains resistant to this antimicrobial in our region compared with their geographical area. We also agree that clarithromycin-containing sequential treatment is achieving disappointing results in areas with a high prevalence of clarithromycin and/or dual (ie, metronidazole + clarithromycin) resistance and that, therefore, its role in this setting should be critically reconsidered. Recently, a study by Hsu et al has demonstrated high efficacy of a 14-day sequential–concomitant hybrid treatment (ie, proton pump inhibitor (PPI) standard dose twice daily + amoxicillin 1 g twice daily for 7 days followed by a further 7 days of PPI + amoxicillin 1 g …
