541 animals from three dairy farms () were firstly screened for bovine tuberculosis by tuberculin skin testing, out of which 71 (13.12%) animals were found tuberculin reactors. The serum samples of 71 tuberculin positive104 tuberculin negative and 363 non tuberculin tested animals were then evaluated by Purified Protein Derivative (PPD)-ELISA. PPD-ELISA yielded 57.74%, 8.65% and 24.24% seroposi...

The ongoing spread of tuberculosis (TB) in poor resource countries and the recently increasing incidence in high resource countries lead to the need of updated knowledge for clinicians, particularly for pediatricians. The purpose of this article is to provide an overview on the most important peculiarities of TB in children. Children are less contagious than adults, but the risk of progression ...

BACKGROUND Previous meta-analyses regarding the performance of interferon-gamma release assays (IGRAs) for tuberculosis diagnosis in children yielded contrasting results, probably due to different inclusion/exclusion criteria. METHODS We systematically searched PubMed, EMBASE and Cochrane databases and calculated pooled estimates of sensitivities and specificities of QuantiFERON-TB Gold In Tu...

BACKGROUND The tuberculin skin test (TST) is the standard test used to screen for latent TB infection (LTBI) in the northern Canadian territory of Nunavut. Interferon gamma release assays (IGRA) are T cell blood-based assays to diagnose LTBI. The Bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG) vaccine is part of the routine immunization schedule in Nunavut. The objective of this study was to test the feasibilit...

OBJECTIVE The study compared two brands of tuberculin skin tests (TST): PPD RT 23, (SSI, Denmark) and PPD IC 65, (Cantacuzino Institute, Romania), 2 TU/ 0.1 ml each, with an interferon gamma release assay [IGRA], Quantiferon-TB Gold (QFT). MATERIAL AND METHODS QFT was performed on whole blood samples, before TSTs, on 60 children with tuberculosis (TB), BCG vaccinated, admitted in a paediatric...

A whole-blood interferon-gamma release assay (IGRA) is being evaluated for its potential to replace the tuberculin skin test (TST) for detecting Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection. To test the assay in a population in which tuberculosis is highly endemic and in another population that is representative of an urban United States population, 253 volunteers from Ethiopia and 175 volunteers from ...

background & objectives: annually, many muslims fast during the month of ramadan worldwide. this practice has different favorable medical and physiological effects, such as improved serum lipid profile and blood glucose level due to changes in diet and sleep patterns. it has also been hypothesized that ramadan fasting may affect the immune system. as reported, ramadan fasting can influence the ...

A review of the epidemiology of tuberculosis, its contributing risk factors (excluding HIV) and the role of screening latent tuberculosis infection in Malaysia was done. Despite the global and domestic decrease in prevalence rates of tuberculosis in the past decade, there is an alarming increase in the trend of non communicable diseases in the country. High prevalence rates of major risk factor...

Correspondence TB is appropriate, particularly in high-prevalence countries. The study by Lee et al 2 performed in a high-prevalence Asian region and involving a very high number of untreated contacts demonstrates that the risk of progression is at its highest directly after Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) infection and that more than one-half of those subjects who progressed to TB did so with...

The interferon-gamma (IFN-γ) assay is employed as a complementary diagnostic test for bovine tuberculosis (BTB) in many countries. To simplify this assay, we established a 96-well plate format using the ESAT-6 and CFP-10 antigens and then employed it to determine the extent of Mycobacterium (M.) bovis infection in dairy herds with a history of BTB outbreaks in a country where only selective cul...