Is the new TB antigen-based skin test ready for use as an alternative to TST/IGRA for TB diagnosis? A narrative review.

Tuberculin skin test (TST) is one of the most commonly used methods to identify TB infection worldwide. TST was developed in the 1940s. The test consists of an intradermal injection of purified protein derivative (PPD), which is a crude mixture of different mycobacterial antigens. As a result, the specificity of TST is low as false positive results can occur in individuals who have received bacille Calmette-Gu érin (BCG) vaccination and patients with a non-tuberculous mycobacterial (NTM) infection.
Source: International Journal of Infectious Diseases - Category: Infectious Diseases Authors: Tags: Review Source Type: research