Another
test of Quantiferon over time and it will be interesting to read the full study once it becomes available. Essentially QFT-GIT was performed at inclusion and repeated after 2, 6, 12 and 18 or 24 months.
This study confirmed a low rate of positive QFT-Git results among military personnel with a positive TST after deployment, supporting the hypothesis of NTM exposure.
TST produces false positive due to NTM, something in which the US military
also have experience
These false positives tests have become more than a mere institutional inconvenience or a momentary medical scare for Soldiers being tested. They are a real financial and medical burden because they inappropriately diverting limited funds and resources.
NTM (Nontuberculous mycobacteria) are
everywhere
NTM are widely distributed in the environment, particularly in wet soil, marshland, streams, rivers and estuaries. Different species of NTM prefer different types of environment. Human disease is believed to be acquired from environmental exposures
...NTM is estimated by some experts in the field to be at least ten times more common than TB in the U.S
The evidence just keeps on piling up
