Discordant tuberculin skin and interferon-gamma tests during contact investigations: a dilemma for tuberculosis controllers.

Current recommendations conflict over the appropriate use of interferon-gamma whole blood assays to screen for tuberculosis (TB) infection in contact investigations. We report here on a worksite TB contact investigation in which tuberculin skin test (TST) and QuantiFERON-TB Gold (QFT-G) were both used to identify infection among 61 co-workers. Of the 27 (44%) who had a TST > or =15 mm, 11 (41%) had negative QFT-G, raising concerns that QFT-G may not be sufficiently sensitive when used alone in contact investigations.

Outbreak of Pseudomonas aeruginosa infections caused by commercial piercing of upper ear cartilage.

Context: Sporadic infections following ear piercing are well documented, but common-source outbreaks are rarely recognized.

Objective: To investigate reports of auricular chondritis subsequent to commercial ear piercing.

Design, Setting, And Subjects: Outbreak investigation by Oregon public health agencies, including cohort study of persons pierced at a jewelry kiosk in August-September 2000, environmental sampling, and molecular subtyping of isolates.