Evaluation of the specificity of an intradermal test with recombinant tuberculosis allergen in Bacillus Calmette-Guérin-vaccinated healthy volunteers.

Introduction: The tuberculin skin test has significant limitations for use in individuals vaccinated with BCG. The presence in the genome of of the RDI region, which is absent in the genome of Mycobacterium bovis BCG and most non-tuberculous mycobacteria, made it possible to develop new skin tests, which include a skin test with a recombinant tuberculosis allergen [RTA (Diaskintest®, JSC Generium, Russia)]. Diaskintest has shown high diagnostic performance in clinical trials and in conditions of high prevalence of tuberculosis infection.

Mass screening for active case finding of pulmonary tuberculosis in the Russian Federation: how to save costs.

In Russia, mass chest X-ray (CXR) screening for tuberculosis (TB) is mandatory. To compare the yield and the cost per TB case detected and the total cost of CXR screening, passive case finding and contact tracing among adolescents and adults in the Arkhangelsk , Russian Federation, 2013-2017. This was an analysis of costing strategies using aggregated data.

Cost minimization analysis of line probe assay for detection of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis in Arkhangelsk region of Russian Federation.

Background: The development of new diagnostic tools allows for faster detection of both tuberculosis (TB) and multidrug-resistant (MDR) TB and should lead to reduced transmission by earlier initiation of anti TB therapy. The research conducted in the Arkhangelsk region of the Russian Federation in 2012-14 included economic evaluation of Line Probe Assay (LPA) implementation in MDR-TB diagnostics compared to existing culture-based diagnostics of Löwenstein Jensen (LJ) and BacTAlert. Clinical superiority of LPA was demonstrated and results were reported elsewhere.