Prevalence of latent tuberculosis infection among healthcare workers in China as detected by two interferon-gamma release assays

2013 ◽  
Vol 84 (4) ◽  
pp. 323-325 ◽  
Author(s):  
Z. Wei ◽  
M. Yang ◽  
B. Quan ◽  
Y. Wang ◽  
Y. Wu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Interferon Gamma ◽  
Healthcare Workers ◽  
Latent Tuberculosis Infection ◽  
Latent Tuberculosis ◽  
Tuberculosis Infection ◽  
Interferon Gamma Release Assays

scholarly journals Elevated Rates of Indeterminate Results on QuantiFERON®-TB Gold Plus in COVID-19 Patients

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kileen L. Shier
Keyword(s):  
Critically Ill ◽  
Interferon Gamma ◽  
Clinical Microbiology ◽  
Latent Tuberculosis Infection ◽  
Immunosuppressive Agents ◽  
Latent Tuberculosis ◽  
Interferon Γ ◽  
Cytokine Expression ◽  
Tuberculosis Infection ◽  
Interferon Gamma Release Assays

Interferon-gamma release assays are used to screen various patient populations for latent tuberculosis infection. In this issue of the Journal of Clinical Microbiology, Ward et al. (J Clin Microbiol 59:e00811-21, 2021, https://doi.org/10.1128/JCM.00811-21 ) investigated an increased indeterminate rate in the QuantiFERON-TB Gold Plus assay among COVID-19 patients that was independent of immunosuppressive agents and lymphopenia. In their study, COVID-19 patients with indeterminate QuantiFERON-TB Gold Plus results trended toward decreased survival as well as increased serum IL-6 and IL-10 levels, though the differences were not statistically significant. They suggest that this pattern of cytokine expression supports an impairment of Th1, and specifically interferon-γ production, in critically ill COVID-19 patients, as indicated by indeterminate QuantiFERON-TB Gold Plus results. Clinicians should be aware of the increased rate of indeterminate QuantiFERON-TB Gold Plus results in critically ill COVID-19 patients.

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