Aportul diagnostic al testului Quantiferon TB gold în tuberculoza activă și infecția tuberculoasă latentă a copilului

Abstract

Tuberculosis is a major cause of morbidity and mortality throughout the world. Although the majority of deaths occur in high-endemic countries, the disease continues to be a problem in industrialized countries as well. That is why diagnosing and treating this disease in the period of latent tuberculosis before it develops into active tuberculosis is crucial. A new and easy to use diagnostic test is QuantiFERON-TB Gold, which measures the level of INF-γ released by the T lymphocytes of infected patients in contact with TB-specific antigens and is more effective compared to skin tuberculin test. Advantages of the QuantiFERON-TB Gold include specificity for individuals with a history of BCG vaccine and atypical mycobacterial infection and convenience of administration, but there is no data on the sensitivity for children, and concerning the immunocompromised individuals there are studies that show an important limitation due to decreased production of INF-γ.