Objective.To evaluate the clinical utility of a new non-invasive enzyme immunoassay（EIA）for the diagnosis of Helicobacter pylori（H.pylori）infection.Methods.Stool specimens of63patients were collected and tested by using a commercial kit for detecting Helicobacter pylori stool antigen（HpSA）

of which61patients also underwent 13 C-Urea breath test（ 13 C-UBT）.The tissue samples of31patients were obtained endoscopically and were examined with histologic technique（Warthin-Starry silver stain）.Regarded 13 C-UBT as a golden standard

HpSA test and histologic techniques were evaluated.Using this method

we also investigated the positive rate of H.pylori infection in children in Beijing.Results.The sensitivity and specificity of HpSA test were94.7%and95.1%respectively;the posi-tive and negative predictive values were97.3%and91.7%respectively;and the accuracy was95.1%.The results showed the prevalence of H.pylori infection was26.0%in children（3～18years）of district of Xicheng in Beijing.After treatment

HpSA seems to disappear rapidly（3～5days）from the feces.Conclusion.The detection of HpSA in stool samples by HpSA test is a rapid noninvasive test for detecting H.pylori infection

and has both high sensitivity and high specificity.It is suitable for screening and diagnosis of H.pylori infection

monitoring the treatment efficacy in routine in all hospitals.