کد مقاله | کد نشریه | سال انتشار | مقاله انگلیسی | نسخه تمام متن |
---|---|---|---|---|
2906202 | 1173444 | 2008 | 6 صفحه PDF | دانلود رایگان |
BackgroundThe tuberculin skin test (TST) has a low specificity in the setting of bacille Calmette-Guérin (BCG) vaccination. Interferon-γ release assays (IGRAs) appear to be more specific but have not been validated in this population under routine clinical conditions. We sought to validate the routine clinical use of the T-SPOT.TB test (Oxford Immunotec; Oxford, UK), an IGRA, in a predominantly foreign-born population with a high rate of BCG vaccination.MethodsWe compared the TST and the T-SPOT.TB test in 96 subjects at a New York City Department of Health tuberculosis clinic. We aimed to determine which test better predicted being a close contact of a case of active tuberculosis, a surrogate for latent tuberculosis infection.ResultsA positive T-SPOT.TB test result was strongly associated with being a close contact of a case of active tuberculosis after adjustment for potential confounders (adjusted odds ratio, 2.9; 95% confidence interval, 1.1 to 7.3; p = 0.03). A positive TST result was associated with being a contact only in subjects without BCG vaccination (p = 0.02). The T-SPOT.TB test was more specific for being a close contact than the TST (p < 0.001). Specificity in BCG-vaccinated subjects was 3% for the TST compared with 70% for the T-SPOT.TB test (p < 0.001).ConclusionsThe T-SPOT.TB test is superior in routine clinical use to the TST for identifying high-risk individuals among foreign-born populations with high rates of BCG vaccination.
Journal: Chest - Volume 133, Issue 4, April 2008, Pages 869–874