Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• Connell, T. G.
• Tebruegge, M.
• Ritz, N.
• Bryant, P.
• Curtis, N.

Titel

The potential danger of a solely interferon-  release assay-based approach to testing for latent Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection in children

Ist Teil von

• Thorax, 2011-03, Vol.66 (3), p.263-264

Ort / Verlag

London: BMJ Publishing Group LTD

Erscheinungsjahr

2011

Link zum Volltext

Quelle

BMJ Journals Archiv - DFG Nationallizenzen

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• Published data by our group and others suggest that the performance of IGRAs is compromised in young children, particularly those under the age of 5 years. 2 10 11 This suggests that the 'decreased positivity' (ie, sensitivity) of IGRAs in young children probably reflects intrinsic limitations of the assays, rather than 'less time for potential exposure to M tuberculosis'. [...]more convincing evidence becomes available, we, and others in this field, maintain that children at high risk of LTBI with an IGRA-/TST+ discordant result should be given preventive treatment, precluding a solely IGRA-based approach. 12 We agree with the authors that 'both IGRAs have methodological and performance characteristics that limit their usefulness in refugee children' and eagerly await the development of improved immunodiagnostic tools for the diagnosis of TB in children.