Performance of QuantiFERON-TB testing in a tuberculosis outbreak at a primary school

This study compared the effectiveness of the QuantiFERON-TB Gold (QFT) assay with the Mantoux tuberculin skin test to detect Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection in 29 children during a school outbreak of tuberculosis. Of the 21 children with M. tuberculosis infection, 11 had a radiograph suggestive of the infection. The QFT assay was positive in all 21 of the children, and the Mantoux test was negative at first testing in 2 children (1 of whom was the sentinel case). The findings demonstrate that the QFT test is extremely useful in accurately identifying infected and uninfected children, permitting rapid intervention.