An Alternative to TB Skin Testing is Now Available!
The Idaho public health laboratory is now offering the QuantiFERON®-TB Gold In-Tube test (QFT-GIT), a blood test that can aid in diagnosing Mycobacterium tuberculosis (TB) infection, including latent infection and active disease.
..QFT-GIT can be used in all settings in which the skin test is currently used, including contact investigations, evaluation of recent immigrants who have had BCG vaccination, and TB screening of health care workers and others undergoing serial evaluation for M. tuberculosis. For providers, using QFT-GIT may decrease confusion when persons known to have been vaccinated with BCG are to be tested.
During the validation process Idaho had previously noted yet another advantage to using QFT-GIT;
Because QFT-G-IT does not require a second visit to complete, test results will likely be available from a greater percentage of contacts than would be available using the TST
