Tuberc Respir Dis.  2007 Apr;62(4):270-275. 10.4046/trd.2007.62.4.270.

Tuberculin Skin Test and QuantiFERON-TB Gold Assay before and after Treatment for Latent Tuberculosis Infection among Health Care Workers in Local Tertiary Hospital

• Lee SJ
• Kim HS
• Ma JE
• Lee SM
• Ham HS
• Cho YJ
• Jeong YY
• Kim HC
• Lee JD
• Kim SJ
• Hwang YS

• KMID: 1970226
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.4046/trd.2007.62.4.270

Abstract

BACKGROUND: The QuantiFERON-TB Gold assay and tuberculin skin test (TST) have been useful test for diagnosing latent tuberculosis infections (LTBI). However, there are few reports on the efficacy of the QuantiFERON-TB Gold assay and TST in evaluating the response after the treatment of LTBI. This study examined the changes in the TST and QuantiFERON-TB Gold assay before and after a treatment for latent tuberculosis in health care workers (HCWs) at a local tertiary hospital.
METHODS
A cohort of volunteers working as nurses and doctors who underwent a TST and QuantiFERON-TB Gold assay was established. The volunteers positive for the QuantiFERON-TB Gold assay had been treated with 3 months of isoniazid (INH) and rifampin (RFP). After completing treatment, the TST and QuantiFERON-TB Gold assay were repeated.
RESULTS
Of the 48 participants (14 doctors, 34 nurses, M: F=11:37, mean age=29.9+/-5.5 years, mean employment period=74.9+/-64.3 months), 19 (39.6%) tested positive to the TST (mean induration=19.1+/-9.7 mm) and 8 (16.7%) were QuantiFERON-TB Gold assay. Among them, one had active pulmonary tuberculosis. Seven volunteers were consistently positive to both the TST and QuantiFERON-TB Gold assay after being medicated with INH and RFP for 3 months.
CONCLUSION
TST and QuantiFERON-TB Gold assay are unsuitable for evaluating the treatment response of LTBI because they were consistently positive both before and after the anti-tuberculosis medication.

Keyword

Latent tuberculosis infection (LTBI); Treatment; Tuberculin skin test (TST); QuantiFERON-TB Gold assay; Health care workers

MeSH Terms

Cohort Studies
Delivery of Health Care*
Employment
Isoniazid
Latent Tuberculosis*
Rifampin
Skin Tests*
Skin*
Tertiary Care Centers*
Tuberculin*
Tuberculosis, Pulmonary
Volunteers
Isoniazid
Rifampin
Tuberculin

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