The aim of the present study was to perform cost-minimisation analysis of contact investigation from a public health perspective using the tuberculin skin test (TST) and a new blood assay, QuantiFERON-TB Gold (QFT-G). A decision-analysis model simulated the costs of investigating a cohort of adult close tuberculosis contacts by the public health service following the current German guidelines o...

The aim of this study was to investigate the association between Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MBT) infection and atopic rhinitis in children recruited from a community with high incidence of MTB infections. The children were assessed for rhinitis according to the ISAAC questionnaire and tested for MTB infection by the tuberculin skin test (TST). Allergen-specific IgE sensitizations were tested b...

Background: Appropriate diagnosis and treatment of latent tuberculosis infection (LTBI) play the most important role in the control of tuberculosis. This study aimed to determine the prevalence of LTBI among healthy tuberculosis unexposed children vaccinated with BCG using the tuberculin skin test (TST) and QuantiFERON TB Gold In-Tube (QFT-GIT) and comparing the agreement between the two tests....

Class III POU proteins are prominent regulators of neural development. Tst-1/Oct6/SCIP, for instance, is essential for terminal differentiation of myelinating Schwann cells in the peripheral nervous system. Although Tst-1/Oct6/SCIP is also expressed in the myelin forming oligodendrocytes of the central nervous system, targeted deletion of Tst-1/Oct6/SCIP failed to reveal a gross alteration of m...

BACKGROUND The risk of developing tuberculosis is high among chronic hemodialysis patients. The tuberculin skin test (TST) has been in use for diagnosing latent TB, but few data are available on TST in hemodialysis patients. OBJECTIVE This study was done to identify the TST reactivity and frequency of booster effect in serial TST among hemodialysis patients. METHODS A total of 100 patients ...

BACKGROUND Epidemiologic data regarding tuberculin skin test (TST) responses are an important basis for TB control strategies. This study analyzed TST responses in Korea, which experienced a rapid change in BCG vaccination status. METHODS TST responses in young adults were examined over 5 years. Participants with active TB lesions were excluded. RESULTS A total of 5,552 participants were en...

BACKGROUND Active tuberculosis infection represents a very common and significant threat to HIV-infected patients. But measures to accurately detect it are limited. OBJECTIVE To compare and analyze the diagnostic efficacy of T-SPOT.TB alone and in combination with TST in HIV-infected patients in China. METHOD TST (tuberculin skin test) and T-SPOT.TB were performed on 131 HIV-infected patien...

The segregation of different cell types into distinct tissues is a fundamental process in metazoan development. Differences in cell adhesion and cortex tension are commonly thought to drive cell sorting by regulating tissue surface tension (TST). However, the role that differential TST plays in cell segregation within the developing embryo is as yet unclear. Here, we have analyzed the role of d...

BACKGROUND Although the tuberculin skin test (TST) is frequently used to aid in the diagnosis of tuberculosis (TB) disease and to identify persons with latent TB infection, it is an imperfect test and approximately 10-25% of persons with microbiologically confirmed TB disease have a negative TST. Previous studies have suggested that persons with a negative TST are more likely to present with se...