QuantiFERON®-TB Testing

Tuberculosis (commonly known as TB) is a bacterial infection that can affect any organ in your body but is most often found in the lungs. The disease is typically spread through the air when a person with TB sneezes or coughs onto nearby individuals. If not treated properly, TB can be fatal.

That’s why Dynacare now offers the QuantiFERON^®-TB Gold Plus (QFT-Plus) blood test for detection of TB. Unlike the century-old TB skin test, the QFT test is more sensitive (95.3% vs. 71.5%) and more specific (97.6% vs. 78.0%). Other advantages of the QFT test include:

• It is not generally affected by a previous BCG (Bacille Calmette-Guérin) vaccination.
• It is not affected by most other environmental mycobacteria.
• It does not require a second patient visit. The skin test requires a second visit (within 48-72 hours) in order to read the test result.
• Results can be available within 2 - 10 days.

QFT-Plus has significant and tangible benefits for TB control programs including:

• fewer missed TB cases;
• better outcomes for patients;
• more confidence in correctly identifying TB infections; and
• significant cost savings through fewer false-positive results.

QFT-Plus is the preferred screening method for TB infection. It has been approved by both the Federal Drug Administration (FDA) in the U.S. and by Health Canada and has seen growing support in guidelines and recommendations from such reputable agencies as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the American College of Rheumatology and the Infectious Diseases Society of America.  In fact, according to the CDC, “The greater specificity of the Quantiferon test and the requirement for only one visit are compelling advantages.”*

* CDC TB Basic Facts http://www.cdc.gov/tb/topic/basics/default.htm. Accessed 2/24/10.