Journal of Acute Disease (Jan 2020)

Comparison between Quanti-FERON-TB Gold In-Tube test and tuberculin skin test for diagnosis of latent tuberculosis in children: A cross-section study

  • Keyghobad Ghadiri,
  • Alisha Akya,
  • Maryam Janatolmakan,
  • Mansour Rezaei,
  • Seyed Amirabbas Sharif,
  • Shahla Masoomshahi,
  • Raha Khosravi,
  • Roya chegenelorestani

DOI
https://doi.org/10.4103/2221-6189.281321
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 9, no. 2
pp. 73 – 77

Abstract

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Objective: To compare Quanti-FERON-TB Gold In-Tube (QFT- GIT) test and tuberculin skin test (TST) for the diagnosis of latent tuberculosis infection in children. Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 64 participants who were between 3 months and 14 years old and had close contact with smear-positive pulmonary tuberculosis were included. Both QFT- GIT test and TST were done and the results were analyzed by SPSS software and Kappa test. Results: The distribution of gender and age according to QFT-GIT and TST results were matched (P>0.05). Overall agreement between QFT-GIT and TST for diagnosis of latent tuberculosis infection in children was 75%. In addition, the contingency coefficient was 0.257, and the Kappa measure of agreement was 0.246 (P=0.034). Conclusions: Compared to TST, QFT-GIT shows no apparent advantage for diagnosis of latent tuberculosis infection in children.

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