QuantiFERON-TB Gold: State of the art for the diagnosis of tuberculosis infection?

Abstract

Tuberculosis (TB) remains a major threat to global health. The recently launched Global Plan to Stop Tuberculosis 2006-2015 highlights the need for accurate, simple and low-cost diagnostic tests for the detection of TB infection. For the first time in decades, new diagnostic tools have emerged that may facilitate this goal. The discovery of Mycobacterium tuberculosis-specific immunodominant antigens has led to the development of interferon γ-release assays that have been shown to have high sensitivity and specificity for TB disease. This review focuses on the QuantiFERON-TB Gold tests and addresses the potential strengths and limitations of the current assays, summarizes the available eviden..