Discrepancy Between the Tuberculin Skin Test and the Whole-Blood Interferon γ Assay for the Diagnosis of Latent Tuberculosis Infection in an Intermediate Tuberculosis-Burden Country

Abstract

Tuberculosis (TB) remains a significant global health problem. Tuberculosis in humans is the most frequent cause of death from a single infectious agent, and often causes severe morbidity. Despite the worldwide effort for eradicating TB, it is responsible for an estimated 8.3 million new infections and 1.8 million deaths each year.^1,2 For effective and efficient treatment of active TB in developing countries, rapid diagnosis and treatment of patients with sputum smear-positive test results are the key points in disease control. However, in countries with low or intermediate rates of TB endemism, the treatment of latent TB infection to prevent progression to active disease has been an essential component of public health efforts to eliminate TB.^3,4