BACKGROUND The screening of both healthcare workers and students attending teaching hospitals for latent tuberculosis infection (LTBI) is recommended in hospitals of many countries with a low-incidence of TB, including Italy, as a fundamental tool of tuberculosis (TB) control programs. The aim of the study was to estimate the prevalence of LTBI and evaluate the main risk-factors associated with...

BACKGROUND End stage renal disease increases the risk of reactivating latent tuberculosis (LTBI). Interferon-gamma release assays (IGRA) are an alternative to the tuberculin skin test (TST) for detecting LTBI. METHODS Sixty-two hemodialysis patients (46 male, 16 female, aged 65 +/- 15 years) from 3 hemodialysis facilities in the Geneva area were submitted to a TST, 2 IGRA (T-SPOT.TB and Quant...

BACKGROUND Tuberculosis (TB) disproportionately affects immigrants, HIV-infected individuals, and those living in crowded settings such as homeless shelters and correctional facilities. Although the majority of jails and prisons use a tuberculin skin test (TST) for latent tuberculosis infection (LTBI) screening, limited data exist on the clinical performance and costs of the TST compared to int...

BACKGROUND The utility of two-step tuberculin skin testing among adolescents in high tuberculosis prevalence settings is not well established. OBJECTIVES To determine the proportion and determinants of a 0-4 mm response to an initial standard tuberculin skin test (TST) and evaluating 'boosting' with repeat testing. METHODS Adolescents between 11 and 18 years attending schools/colleges under...

BACKGROUND Interferon-release assays (IGRAs) for diagnosing active pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB) are not yet fully validated, particularly in high TB-endemic areas as the People's Republic of China (PRC). The aim of this report was to assess the performance of the QuantiFERON-TB Gold In-tube (QFT-GIT) and tuberculin skin test (TST), in addition to microbiological results, as contributors for dia...

RATIONALE To improve the effectiveness of tuberculosis (TB) control programs in the United States by identifying cost-effective priorities for screening for latent tuberculosis infection (LTBI). OBJECTIVES To estimate the cost-effectiveness of LTBI screening using the tuberculin skin test (TST)and interferon-g release assays (IGRAs). METHODS A Markov model of screening for LTBI with TST and...

BACKGROUND Targeted screening for latent TB infection (LTBI) in vulnerable populations is a recommended TB control strategy. Pregnant women are at high risk for developing TB and likely to access healthcare, making pregnancy an important screening opportunity in developing countries. The sensitivity of the widely-used tuberculin skin test (TST), however, may be reduced during pregnancy. METHO...

BACKGROUND Tuberculosis continues to cause unacceptably high levels of disease and death worldwide. Active preventive strategies are required to improve tuberculosis control and to increase the number of cases treated in developing countries. The aim of this study was to evaluate the utility of the tuberculin skin test (TST) in first-year schoolchildren as a means of increasing the number of tu...

OBJECTIVE Interferon-gamma release assays (IGRA) are now available alternatives to tuberculin skin testing (TST) for detection of latent tuberculosis infection (LTBI). We compared the cost-effectiveness of TST and IGRA in different populations and clinical situations, and with variation of a number of parameters. METHODS Markov modelling was used to compare expected TB cases and costs over 20...