Open AccessA prevalence study in Guadalajara, Mexico, comparing tuberculin skin test and QuantiFERON-TB Gold In-Tube
Author(s) -
Arturo Plascencia Hernández,
Rodrigo M. González Sánchez,
Iván I. Hernández Cañaveral,
Antonio Luévanos Velázquez,
P Arce,
Alexander González Díaz,
Manuel Sandoval Díaz,
Yaxsier de Armas Rodríguez,
González Ochoa E,
Héctor Raúl Pérez Gómez
Publication year - 2022
Publication title -
plos one
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.99
H-Index - 332
ISSN - 1932-6203
DOI - 10.1371/journal.pone.0264982
Subject(s) - medicine , tuberculin , quantiferon , concordance , latent tuberculosis , tuberculosis , immunosuppression , gold standard (test) , pediatrics , skin test , cross sectional study , vaccination , immunology , mycobacterium tuberculosis , pathology
Background Tuberculosis (TB) is a prevalent disease throughout the world. The extent of TB illness in childhood is not clear; recent data shows that 10–20% of the cases are found in children under 15 years old. In 2017, 1 million children developed the disease, of which 9% were co-infected with HIV. Methods A cross-sectional study that analyzed 48 children diagnosed with HIV-infection in Guadalajara, Mexico. The tuberculin skin test (TST) and QuantiFERON-TB Gold In-Tube test (QFT) were performed and compared to diagnose latent TB infection (LTBI). Results The average age was 9 years old (± 4), with an age range of 1–16 years; the 6-12-year-old group predominated with 50% of cases. 27 patients (56%) were male; 83% had received the BCG vaccination and 23% had a history of being contacts of TB cases. In the study, 40 patients (83%) were without immunosuppression; seven (15%) with moderate immunosuppression, and only one patient had severe immunodeficiency. Overall, 3 of the 48 children (6.2%) had a positive TST, while 8 out of 48 (16.6%) had a positive QFT. The concordance between the two tests was 89.6% (43/48) with Kappa = 0.5 (95% CI, 0.14–0.85). Conclusions The QFT test represents an opportunity in the diagnosis of LTBI, particularly in pediatric HIV- patients. This is the first study that compares the two tests (TST and QFT) in children with HIV-infection in Guadalajara, Mexico.