OBJECTIVE To assess the prevalence of prior tuberculin skin testing (TST) among populations at risk for HIV infection in Tijuana, Mexico, and to identify factors associated with TST. METHODS Sex workers, injection drug users, noninjecting drug users, and homeless persons > 18 years old were recruited by using targeted sampling for risk assessment interviews and serologic testing for HIV and M...

Staphylococcus aureus is a major cause of infections. Toxic shock syndrome toxin (TSST-1) and Panton-Valentine leukocidin (PVL) are associated with severe clinical syndromes. S. aureus colonizing isolates recovered from healthcare workers and patients in the intensive care unit (ICU) of a university hospital comprising Group A were compared with those from adult non-ICU carriers (Group B). mecA...

The tuberculin skin test (TST) is widely used in TB clinics to aid Mycobacterium tuberculosis (M.tb) diagnosis, but the definition and the significance of a positive test in very young children is still unclear. This study compared the TST in Gambian children at 4(1/2) months of age who either received BCG vaccination at birth (Group 1) or were BCG naïve (Group 2) in order to examine the role o...

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the prevalence of and factors associated with latent tuberculosis infection (LTBI) based on the tuberculin skin test (TST) and to estimate the boosted reaction rate among newly employed healthcare workers (HCWs). DESIGN Newly employed HCWs between January 2010 and July 2012 at Severance Hospital in South Korea were enrolled in this study. A one-step TST was conducted bef...

BACKGROUND Prompt diagnosis and treatment of latent tuberculosis (TB) infection (LTBI) are needed to control TB. The aim of the study was to compare the performance of Quanti FERON-TB test (QFT) with conventional TST for the diagnosis of LTBI. METHODS In this analytical - comparison study, we enrolled 87 nurses working in teaching hospitals in Ahvaz. All study subjects were tested by TST. TST...

BACKGROUND Latent tuberculosis infection (LTBI) is a reservoir for new TB cases. Isoniazid preventive therapy (IPT) reduces the risk of active TB by as much as 90%, but LTBI screening has limitations. Unlike tuberculin skin testing (TST), interferon-gamma release assays are not affected by BCG vaccination, and have been reported to be cost-effective in low-burden countries. The goal of this stu...

The aim of this study was to establish the manner in which the LEPR 223, 1019, 492, and 976 gene polymorphisms influence child obesity.We performed a prospective case-control study on 264 hospitalized children from Romania (Nutrichild study) whom we divided into 2 groups: Group I -143 controls and Group II-121 obese children.The 2 groups were evaluated regarding the anthropometry (MUAC, TST, H/...

Staphylococcus aureus is a common pathogen causing both hospital and community-acquired infections. Hemolysin is one of the important virulence factors for S. aureus and causes the typical β-hemolytic phenotype which is called complete hemolytic phenotype as well. Recently, S. aureus with an incomplete hemolytic phenotype (SIHP) was isolated from clinical samples. To study the microbiologic cha...

Hemodialysis patients are at increased risk of latent tuberculosis infection (LTBI) compared with the general population. QuantiFERON-TB Gold (QFT-G) for LTBI detection is more promising than tuberculin skin test (TST) in hemodialysis patients. The aim of this study is to determine whether the QFT-G is more sensitive than the TST in hemodialysis patients in LTBI. Eighty nine hemodialysis patien...

BACKGROUND Assuming a higher risk of latent tuberculosis (TB) infection in the population of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in October of 1998 the TB Control Program of Clementino Fraga Filho Hospital (CFFH) routinely started to recommend a two-step tuberculin skin test (TST) in contacts of pulmonary TB cases in order to distinguish a boosting reaction due to a recall of delayed hypersensitivity previ...