results almost 8% of the personnel showed positive tst (over 10 mm) reaction while 29% of them had considerable t - cell reactivity against ppd in elispot assays. however, the esat - 6 reactivity was found only in one case of hcws. no correlation was found between the patterns of the reactions and the age or the duration of the employment or previous vaccination history of the participants. the...

BACKGROUND Currently, reliable efficacy markers for assessment of new interventions against tuberculosis (TB) are limited to disease and death. More precise measurement of the human immune response to Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection may be important. A qualitative enzyme-linked immunospot assay (ELISPOT) result for early secretory antigenic target 6 (ESAT-6) and culture filtrate protein 10...

QuantiFERON-TB (QIFN) (CSL Limited) is a whole-blood assay for the recognition of infection with Mycobacterium tuberculosis. QIFN measures gamma interferon (IFN-gamma) production when purified protein derivatives (PPDs) of mycobacteria are incubated with venous blood samples. The specificity of QIFN in medical students before and after BCG immunization was assessed, and sensitivity in patients ...

BACKGROUND Identifying novel TB diagnostics is a major public health priority. We explored the diagnostic characteristics of antimycobacterial lymphocyte proliferation assays (LPA) in HIV-infected subjects with latent or active TB. METHODS HIV-infected subjects with bacille Calmette Guérin (BCG) scars and CD4 counts > or = 200 cells/mm(3) entering a TB booster vaccine trial in Tanzania had ba...

BACKGROUND The diagnosis of extra-pulmonary tuberculosis (EPTB) by conventional methods such as culture and microscopy has low sensitivity and requires an invasive procedure. A simple rapid serological test would be of great value. METHODS Six antigens (ESAT-6, Ag85A, TB10.4, Rv3881c, lipoarabinomannan (LAM) and Ara6-BSA) were tested in an ELISA to detect antigen specific IgG and IgM antibodi...

Bovine tuberculosis is an important infectious disease caused by Mycobacterium bovis, which is responsible for considerable economic losses. This disease constitutes a serious public health problem. Control programs in most countries, including Brazil, are based on the identification and slaughter of infected animals, as defined by the skin tuberculin test, which has its constraints. In the pre...

Human T cell responses to ESAT-6 and eight synthetic overlapping peptides were investigated in tuberculosis (TB) patients and control subjects from regions of high and low endemicity for TB. ESAT-6 was recognized by 65% of all tuberculin purified protein derivative-responsive TB patients, whereas only 2 of 29 bacille Calmette-Guérin-vaccinated Danish healthy donors recognized this molecule. In ...

with circulant transition matrices Tony Van Gestel Dept. of Electrical Engineering, ESAT/SISTA Katholieke Universiteit Leuven Kard. Mercierlaan 94, 3001 Leuven, Belgium [email protected] Katrien De Cock Dept. of Electrical Engineering, ESAT/SISTA Katholieke Universiteit Leuven Kard. Mercierlaan 94, 3001 Leuven, Belgium [email protected] Raf Jans Dept. of Applie...