The role of a whole blood interferon-gamma assay for the detection of latent tuberculosis infection in Bacille Calmette-Guérin vaccinated children.

The tuberculin skin test (TST) has limitations in children who are under the Bacille Calmette-Guérin (BCG) effect. Our aim was to evaluate the QuantiFERON-TB Gold In-Tube (QFT-G IT) blood test for Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection in children and to compare results with those of the TST. QFT-G IT and TST data were collected from 227 children between 0 and 15 years of age, split into 4 risk groups.