Abstract
Two commercial interferon gamma release assays (IGRAs) (QuantiFERON(R)-TB Gold in Tube and T SPOT(R)-TB) to detect a contact with M. tuberculosis have recently become available. The majority of studies agree that the sensitivity and specificity of these methods are superior to the Tuberculin Skin Tests (TSTs) in detecting an exposure to bacteria in latently infected individuals and in clinical tuberculosis. However, the data in children remains limited. Consecutively collected samples from children (n = 99) representing age range from zero to 18 years were analyzed in a retrospective non-blinded study. The two IGRAs were modified and adapted to the needs of Finland, a country of a low tuberculosis incidence. For 27 children, both tests were performed simultaneously and compared with the TST and clinician's diagnosis. The sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy of both IGRAs was determined. QuantiFERON TB Gold and T SPOT-TB performed (respectively) as follows: sensitivities 0.92 (95% confidence interval, CI, 0.67-0.99) and 0.85 (0.64-0.95); specificities 0.91 (0.77-0.97) and 1.00 (0.93-1.00); accuracies 0.91 (0.80-0.97) and 0.96 (0.88-0.99). This compares favorably to the TST whose known figures are 0.90, 0.95, and 0.95, respecti...Continue Reading
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