Quantiferon-TB Gold: Positive, negative?
February 1, 2006 2 minutes read
Quantiferon-TB Gold: Positive, negative?
This is an excerpt from the Guidelines for Using Quantiferon-TB Gold issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The full guidelines are available at www.cdc.gov/mmwr/.
• A positive QFT-G result should prompt the same public health and medical interventions as a positive TST result. No reason exists to follow a positive QFT-G result with a TST. Persons who have a positive QFT-G result, regardless of symptoms or signs, should be evaluated for TB disease before latent tuberculosis infection (LTBI) is diagnosed. At a minimum, a chest radiograph should be examined for abnormalities consistent with TB disease. Additional medical evaluation would depend on clinical judgment on the basis of historical findings (including exposure to infectious TB), physical examination, and chest radiography. HIV counseling, testing, and referral is recommended because HIV infection increases the suspicion for TB and the urgency of treating LTBI. After TB has been excluded, treatment of LTBI should be considered.
• The majority of healthy adults who have negative QFT-G results are unlikely to have M. tuberculosis infection and do not require further evaluation. However, for those with recent contact with people with infectious TB, negative QFT-G results should be confirmed with a repeat test performed eight to 10 weeks after the end of exposure, as is recommended for a negative TST result.
• An indeterminate QFT-G result does not provide useful information regarding the likelihood of M. tuberculosis infection. The optimal follow up of persons with indeterminate QFT-G results has not been determined. The options are to repeat QFT-G with a newly obtained blood specimen, administer a TST, or do neither. For persons with an increased likelihood of M. tuberculosis infection who have an indeterminate QFT-G result, administration of a second test, either QFT-G or TST, might be prudent.
This is an excerpt from the Guidelines for Using Quantiferon-TB Gold issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.You have reached your article limit for the month. Subscribe now to access this article plus other member-only content.
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