INTRODUCTION In France, pre-employment screening for tuberculosis (TB) is performed for healthcare workers (HCW). Screening is repeated when exposure to TB patients or infectious material occurs. The results of these TB screenings were analysed in a retrospective analysis. METHOD Tuberculin skin tests (TST) and interferon-gamma release assays (QuantiFERON® Gold In-Tube - QFT) were used to per...

BACKGROUND Recent approval of interferon-gamma release assays that are more specific for Mycobacterium tuberculosis has given new options for the diagnosis of latent tuberculosis infection (LTBI). OBJECTIVE To assess the cost-effectiveness of Quanti-FERON-TB Gold (QFT-G) vs. the tuberculin skin test (TST) in diagnosing LTBI in contacts of active TB cases using a decision analytic Markov model...

RATIONALE Each year 1 million persons acquire permanent U.S. residency visas after tuberculosis (TB) screening. Most applicants undergo a 2-stage screening with tuberculin skin test (TST) followed by CXR only if TST-positive at > 5 mm. Due to cross reaction with bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG), TST may yield false positive results in BCG-vaccinated persons. Interferon gamma release assays exclud...

The QuantiFERON-TB Gold In-Tube (QFT-G IT) test (Cellestis Inc., Valencia, CA) is one of the gamma interferon release assays (IGRAs) that are promising tools for diagnosing active or latent Mycobacterium tuberculosis infections. We investigated the clinical and laboratory factors that affect the rate of indeterminate QFT-G IT test results. We also suggest a workflow strategy for achieving optim...

BACKGROUND QuantiFERON-TB Gold In-Tube® (QFT-GIT) test is used for the diagnosis of latent tuberculosis (TB) infection. Besides, QFT-GIT test could allow tracking changes in immune response among TB patients and their contacts. In high TB burden settings, reports on QFT-GIT conversions and reversions among TB patients and their contacts are limited. As part of a major project to study immune re...

BACKGROUND This study was conducted to evaluate the performance of a whole-blood interferon-gamma release assay in inpatients who were admitted to the emergency department (ED) with pulmonary infiltrates who required a differential diagnosis with pulmonary tuberculosis (TB). METHODS The patients with pulmonary infiltrates who received a QuantiFERON (QFT) test in the ED were included as an inp...

We investigated the aftereffects of confirmatory QuantiFERON testing (QFT) added to a positive tuberculin skin test (TST). We reviewed the pre and post course of sequential tuberculosis (TB) outbreaks in a high school where massive 43 active TB cases had been found within one year before delayed contact investigation. And we investigated the TB development in relation to initial TST and QFT dur...

Intestinal tuberculosis (ITB) remains prevalent in Asia. An interferon-γ assay (QuantiFERON-TB gold test [QFT]) is considered to be an effective supplementary tool for diagnosing ITB. We retrospectively analyzed the clinical features of ITB patients based on the initial results of QFT. A total of 109 patients with ITB were enrolled, and 82 patients (75.2%) showed positive QFT results. In the QF...

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the usefulness of one of IGRAs, QuantiFERON-TB Gold (QFT-G), in human immunodeficiency virus- (HIV-) infected patients with various CD4(+) T cell counts. METHODS The QFT-G assay was performed using QFT-G kits among 107 HIV-infected patients including 9 cases with active tuberculosis (TB). RESULTS In HIV-infected patients with CD4(+) > 50/microL, QFT-G positive rate for...