Comparison of Mantoux Skin Test with Three Generations of a Whole Blood IFN-gamma Assay for Tuberculosis Infection

Overview

Journal Int J Tuberc Lung Dis

Specialty Pulmonary Medicine

Date 2006 Mar 28

PMID 16562712

Citations 52

Authors

H Mahomed

E J Hughes

T Hawkridge

D Minnies

E Simon

F Little

W A Hanekom

L Geiter

G D Hussey

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Setting: A rural town in South Africa.

Objective: To compare the performance of Quanti-FERON assays with the tuberculin skin test (TST) for identifying latent tuberculosis infection (LTBI) in a high TB burden community.

Design: In a cross-sectional study in healthy adults, we applied the TST and took blood for the three generations of QuantiFERON assays.

Results: Of 358 participants whose results were analysed, 291 (81%) had a TST result of > or = 10 mm induration, and 187 (52%) > or = 15 mm. QuantiFERON-TB was positive in 215 (60%), QuantiFERON-TB Gold in 137 (38%), and QuantiFERON-TB Gold (In-Tube method) in 201 (56%). There was poor agreement between TST and QuantiFERON tests, and between the different generations of QuantiFERON tests (kappa = 0.12-0.50). Of the subset with TST indurations > or = 15 mm, 30-56% had negative QuantiFERON tests. However, positive Quanti-FERON tests were associated with males, who have a higher incidence of TB in this area.

Conclusion: We showed poor agreement between TST and the different QuantiFERON tests in diagnosing LTBI. The surprising discordance between the Quanti-FERON TB Gold and QuantiFERON TB Gold (In-Tube method) tests needs to be investigated further.

Citing Articles

Tuberculosis Infection in Pregnant People: Current Practices and Research Priorities.

Mathad J, Yadav S, Vaidyanathan A, Gupta A, LaCourse S Pathogens. 2022; 11(12).

PMID: 36558815 PMC: 9782762. DOI: 10.3390/pathogens11121481.

Absolute risk of tuberculosis among untreated populations with a positive tuberculin skin test or interferon-gamma release assay result: systematic review and meta-analysis.

Campbell J, Winters N, Menzies D BMJ. 2020; 368:m549.

PMID: 32156698 PMC: 7190060. DOI: 10.1136/bmj.m549.

Clinical Development of New TB Vaccines: Recent Advances and Next Steps.

Hatherill M, White R, Hawn T Front Microbiol. 2020; 10:3154.

PMID: 32082273 PMC: 7002896. DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2019.03154.

Evaluating Latent Tuberculosis Infection Test Performance Using Latent Class Analysis in a TB and HIV Endemic Setting.

Adams S, Ehrlich R, Baatjies R, Dendukuri N, Wang Z, Dheda K Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2019; 16(16).

PMID: 31416206 PMC: 6720895. DOI: 10.3390/ijerph16162912.

Phase 2b Controlled Trial of M72/AS01 Vaccine to Prevent Tuberculosis.

Van Der Meeren O, Hatherill M, Nduba V, Wilkinson R, Muyoyeta M, van Brakel E N Engl J Med. 2018; 379(17):1621-1634.

PMID: 30280651 PMC: 6151253. DOI: 10.1056/NEJMoa1803484.