Latent tuberculosis infection (LTBI) is a subclinical infection with Mycobacterium (M.) tuberculosis. Children and immunosuppressed individuals due to pathologic conditions or therapeutic procedures are at a high risk of reactivation of LTBI to active disease compared to general population and require timely identification. The diagnosis of LTBI is based on the measurement an adaptive immune re...

Differentiation of active from latent tuberculosis (TB) is a major challenge in the control of TB. In this study, PBMC from latent TB-infected subjects, TB patients, and tuberculin skin test-negative donors stimulated with the Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb)-specific Ag, early secretory antigenic target 6, and mRNA for 45 immune-related genes was measured by quantitative real-time PCR. Univari...

Tuberculosis (TB) is still a major global health problem. A third of the world's population is infected with Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Only ~10% of infected individuals develop TB but there are 9 million TB cases with 1.5 million deaths annually. The standard prophylactic treatment regimens for latent TB infection take 3-9 months, and new cases of TB require at least 6 months of treatment wit...

Evaluation of: Pareek M, Watson JP, Ormerod LP et al. Screening of immigrants in the UK for imported latent tuberculosis: a multicentre cohort study and cost-effectiveness analysis. Lancet Infect. Dis. 11(6), 435-444 (2011).Tuberculosis (TB) is a serious public health problem in the UK, and detection and prophylactic treatment of latent infection offers improved control. A recent study advocate...

BACKGROUND IFN-γ is presently the only soluble immunological marker used to help diagnose latent Mycobacterium tuberculosis (M.tb) infection. However, IFN-γ is not available to distinguish latent from active TB infection. Moreover, extrapulmonary tuberculosis, such as tuberculous pleurisy, cannot be properly diagnosed by IFN-γ release assay. As a result, other disease- or infection-related immu...

In the absence of a gold standard for LTBI, the proper assessment of the TST, IGRAs or any other future tests intended for the diagnosis of LTBI should focus on determining their capability for predicting the development of active tuberculosis (TB), i.e. the positive and negative predictive values for progression to active TB. Alternative evidence, such as the diagnostic accuracy of the test in...

Latent/manifest latent nystagmus (LMLN) is a specific type of infantile nystag­ mus that occurs subsequent to strabismus in some patients.1.2 The amplitude of LMLN usually follows Alexander's law, increasing as the fixating eye moves into abduction and decreasing in adduction. 1 The slow phases of LMLN may be either linear or of decreasing velocity in the same patient. 3 Depending on the slow-p...