Quantiferon - Medicare Australia

Note that the medicare item is not for standard or contact screening and is most likely for screening before anti TNF therapy (for treatment of rheumatoid arthritis and other conditions related to the immune system)

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Medicare Item 69471

Test of cell-mediated immunity in blood for the detection of latent tuberculosis in an immunosuppressed or immunocompromised patient - 1 test

July 2007 to June 2008 = 4,544

July 2007 to December 2007 = 2,155
July 2008 to December 2008 = 3,504
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For the same period in the previous year there appears to have been a 62% increase in Medicare claims for QFT; remarkable for a country in which the "TST remains the preferred method of screening for LTBI"

Referring to the item for Mantoux which does not have the same restriction as Quantiferon

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Medicare Item 73811

July 2007 to June 2008 = 6,768

July 2007 to December 2007 = 2,701
July 2008 to December 2008 = 3,024
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So what does this all mean? By placing the data into a pictorial format we are better able to see that from around June/July 2008 Quantiferon has become the preferred test for latent TB infection (click on image for FULL SIZE).