BACKGROUND Options for intervention against Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection are limited by the diagnostic tools available. The Purified Protein Derivative (PPD) skin test is thought to be non-specific, especially in tropical settings. We compared the PPD skin test with an ELISPOT test in The Gambia. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS Household contacts over six months of age of sputum smear ...

BACKGROUND The factors influencing elicitation responses in individuals allergic to p-phenylenediamine (PPD) in hair dyes are not well understood. OBJECTIVES Investigation of the elicitation response to the new, less-sensitizing PPD alternative 2-methoxymethyl-p-phenylenediamine (ME-PPD) under simulated hair dye use conditions. METHODS The cross-elicitation response to ME-PPD (2% in a hair ...

PURPOSE Negative skin test reaction against purified protein derivative (PPD) is one of the important diagnostic criteria for sarcoidosis. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between negative skin test reaction against PPD and the responses of peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBLs) against PPD in sarcoidosis patients. METHODS Sarcoidosis patients (n = 14) with ocular ch...

BACKGROUND Positive patch test reactions to p-phenylenediamine (PPD) are common. PPD is used in oxidative hair dyes and is also present in dark henna temporary 'tattoos'. Cross-sensitization to other contact allergens may occur. Because subjects sensitized to PPD are at risk of clinically severe reactions upon hair dyeing, there is a need for 'current' prevalence data on PPD sensitization. OB...

The purified protein derivative (PPD) skin test for Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection lacks specificity. We assessed 2 more specific M. tuberculosis antigens (ESAT-6 and CFP-10) by enzyme-linked immunospot assay (ELISPOT) compared with PPD by ELISPOT and skin test in The Gambia. Of 735 household contacts of 130 sputum smear-positive tuberculosis cases, 476 (65%) tested positive by PPD ELISPO...

BACKGROUND Currently, reliable efficacy markers for assessment of new interventions against tuberculosis (TB) are limited to disease and death. More precise measurement of the human immune response to Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection may be important. A qualitative enzyme-linked immunospot assay (ELISPOT) result for early secretory antigenic target 6 (ESAT-6) and culture filtrate protein 10...

Although delayed-type hypersensitivity skin testing with tuberculin purified protein derivative (PPD) is the standard for tuberculosis screening, its variability suggests the need for a more sensitive, noninvasive test. An in vitro whole-blood assay has been proposed as an alternative. Using health care worker volunteers, we confirmed the correlation between PPD skin test (PPD-ST) results (posi...

OBJECTIVE Screening is one of the ways to combat Tuberculosis (TB) and should be mostly concentrated on groups showing some symptoms of the disease. Tuberculosis can be transferred from person to person in laboratories, prisons and psychiatry hospitals. The purpose of this study was to survey pulmonary TB in patients with schizophrenia in Rasht. METHODS In this descriptive-cross sectional, Tw...

Controversies have been reported in recent studies regarding the risk of T.B contamination for hospital personnel.some of the experts consider all of the hospital staff in high risk groupd whill others consider the risk only for hospital staff working in the  wards in which T.B patients are hospitalized.therefore in this study tuberculin test results of hospital clinical staff was compared to t...