QuantiFERON®-TB gold in-tube performance for diagnosing active tuberculosis in children and adults in a high burden setting

• Published in: PloS one 2012-07, Vol.7 (7), p.e37851-e37851
• Main Authors: Rose, Michala V, Kimaro, Godfather, Nissen, Thomas N, Kroidl, Inge, Hoelscher, Michael, Bygbjerg, Ib C, Mfinanga, Sayoki G, Ravn, Pernille
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Acute Disease; Adolescent; Adult; Adults; Age Factors; Anemia; Antigens; Chemokines; Child; Child, Preschool; Children; Coinfection; Comparative analysis; Cytokines; Disease prevention; Disease susceptibility; Entamoeba dispar; Entamoeba histolytica; Female; HIV; HIV Infections - blood; HIV Infections - immunology; HIV Infections - mortality; Hospitals; Human immunodeficiency virus; Humans; Immunity; Immunocompromised Host; Immunology; Infant; Infections; Infectious diseases; Interferon-gamma - blood; Interferon-gamma - immunology; Laboratories; Low income groups; Male; Malnutrition; Medical diagnosis; Medical research; Medicine; Mortality; Mycobacterium tuberculosis; Necator americanus; Reagent Kits, Diagnostic; Schistosoma haematobium; Sensitivity; Sensitivity and Specificity; Skin tests; Studies; Survival Rate; Tanzania; Tuberculin; Tuberculin Test; Tuberculosis; Tuberculosis, Pulmonary - blood; Tuberculosis, Pulmonary - diagnosis; Tuberculosis, Pulmonary - immunology; Tuberculosis, Pulmonary - mortality; Vaccines; γ-Interferon
• ISSN: 1932-6203; 1932-6203
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0037851

To determine whether QuantiFERON®-TB Gold In-Tube (QFT) can contribute to the diagnosis of active tuberculosis (TB) in children in a high-burden setting and to assess the performance of QFT and tuberculin skin test (TST) in a prospective cohort of TB suspect children compared to adults with confirmed TB in Tanzania. Sensitivity and specificity of QFT and TST for diagnosing active TB as well as indeterminate QFT rates and IFN-γ levels were assessed in 211 TB suspect children in a Tanzanian district hospital and contrasted in 90 adults with confirmed pulmonary TB. Sensitivity of QFT and TST in children with confirmed TB was 19% (5/27) and 6% (2/31) respectively. In adults sensitivity of QFT and TST was 84% (73/87) and 85% (63/74). The QFT indeterminate rate in children and adults was 27% and 3%. Median levels of IFN-γ were lower in children than adults, particularly children