1. Screening for tuberculosis among 2381 household contacts of sputum-smear-positive cases in The Gambia
- Author
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Jackson Sillah, D., Hill, P. C., Fox, A., Brookes, R. H., Donkor, S. A., Lugos, M. D., Howie, S. R. C., Fielding, K. R., Jallow, A., Lienhardt, Christian, Corrah, T., Adegbola, R. A., and McAdam, K. P.
- Subjects
tuberculosis ,screening ,ELISPOT ,tuberculin skin test ,hemic and immune systems ,Mycobacterium tuberculosis ,bacterial infections and mycoses ,complex mixtures ,The Gambia - Abstract
Contact investigation is a key component of tuberculosis (TB) control in developed, but not developing, countries. We aimed to measure the prevalence of TB among household contacts of sputum-smear-positive TB cases in The Gambia and to assess the sensitivity of an enzyme-linked immunospot (ELISPOT) assay in this regard. Household contacts of adult smear-positive TB patients were assessed by questionnaire, purified protein derivative (PPD) skin test, ELISPOT assay, physical examination, chest X-ray and sputum/gastric aspirate. Thirty-three TB cases were identified from 2174 of 2381 contacts of 317 adult smear-positive pulmonary TB patients, giving a prevalence of 1518/100000. The cases identified tended to have milder disease than those passively detected. The sensitivity of ESAT-6/CFP-10 ELISPOT test as a screening test for TB disease was estimated as 71%. Fifty-six per cent of contacts with a PPD skin test result >= 10 mm induration had detectable responses to ESAT-6/CFP-10 by ELISPOT, 11% with a negative PPD skin test (
- Published
- 2007