Objective This study estimates the erythema nodosum (EN) incidence in a tuberculosis (TB) endemic setting and evaluates the likelihood of a subsequent TB diagnosis among individuals with Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection (MTI) with or without EN. Design We estimated EN incidence rates (IRs) in East Greenland in 2010-2011 and conducted a cohort study following all individuals who tested posit...

BACKGROUND Clinical roles of QuantiFERON-TB Gold (QFT-G)/Gold in-Tube (QFT-G-IT) and T-SPOT.TB in tuberculosis require clarification. METHODS MEDLINE and EMBASE were searched for relevant English papers. Summary estimates of likelihood ratios (LR) of QFT-G/QFT-G-IT and T-SPOT.TB for latent tuberculosis infection (LTBI) and tuberculosis disease in adults were obtained by bivariate and univaria...

Strategies for control and elimination of tuberculosis (TB) in low-incidence settings are directed toward treatment of recently acquired latent tuberculosis infection (LTBI) in TB contacts [1]. To identify this target population for preventive treatment the development of more specific, in vitro assays for LTBI, the interferon (INF)-c release assays (IGRAs), has offered an alternative method fo...

The contribution of travel to high incidence countries and the impact of the discontinuation of universal Bacillus Calmette–Guérin (BCG) vaccination to there cent rise in tuberculosis (TB) in the United Kingdom remain unclear. An outbreak in a college presented an opportunity to assess these. A cohort of students answered a questionnaire assessing risk factors for TB.Participants were screened ...

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently published updated guidelines for the use of interferon gamma release assays (IGRAs) to detect Mycobacterium tuberculosis. This document gives a balanced analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of IGRAs. To date, these assays have not been widely adopted in the United States by clinical laboratories. We have asked two experts, Thomas Alexa...

BACKGROUND Antigen specific release of IP-10 is the most promising alternative marker to IFN-γ for infection with M. tuberculosis. Compared to Interferon-γ release assays (IGRA), IP-10 is released in high levels enabling novel approaches such as field friendly dried blood spots (DBS) and molecular detection. AIM To develop a robust IP-10 based molecular assay for the diagnosis of infection wi...

OBJECTIVES Blood-based Interferon-Gamma Release Assays (IGRA) identify Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) sensitisation with increased specificity, but sensitivity remains impaired in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infected persons. The QuantiFERON-TB Gold In-Tube test contains peptide 38-55 of Rv2654c, based on data indicating differential recognition between tuberculosis patients and BCG va...

BACKGROUND Recent interest has focused on the potential use of serial interferon gamma (IFN-gamma) release assay (IGRA) measurements to assess the response to anti-tuberculous (TB) treatment. The kinetics of IFN-gamma responses to Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) antigens in HIV-infected children during treatment have not however been previously investigated. METHODS IFN-gamma responses to th...

BACKGROUND There is limited data on the effect of HIV status and CD4 counts on performance of Interferon-g Release assays (IGRAs) for diagnosis of latent tuberculosis infection (LTBI). METHODS A cross sectional study was conducted to assess the prevalence of and risk factors for a positive diagnostic test for LTBI, using tuberculin skin test (TST) and IGRAs among HIV-discordant couples in Zam...

BACKGROUND Community-based screening for TB, combined with HIV and syphilis testing, faces a number of barriers. One significant barrier is the value that target communities place on such screening. METHODS Integrated testing for TB, HIV, and syphilis was performed in neighborhoods identified using geographic information systems-based disease mapping. TB testing included skin testing and inte...