Abstract
Currently, diagnosis of tuberculosis and latent tuberculosis infection in children remains difficult. The study aimed to compare the results of a skin test with allergen tuberculosis recombinant (ATR), containing ESAT6 and CFP10 proteins, QuantiFERON (QFT) (Qiagen, Germany) and TB-Feron (TBF) (SD Biosensor, Korea).Materials and methods. Two tests (ATR and QFT) were performed in parallel on 199 children with various forms of tuberculosis infection, and three tests (ATR, QFT, and TBF) on 24 children. Results. The ATR-test and QFT results coincided in 164 (82.4%) children. Both tests were positive in 140 (70.4%) patients, both tests were negative in 24 (12.0%). The opposite tests results occurred in 35 (17.6%) children. The ATR-positive/QFT-negative combination was the most frequent — 23 (11.6%), while the ATR-negative/QFT-positive combination was less frequent — 12 (6.0%). Among the patients with the opposite results,
young children (40.0%), children living with HIV infection
(8.6%), and allergic diseases (37.1%) were more common
compared to the patients with the positive results of the
two tests, p<0.05. The result of the TB-Feron test showed
a match with the ATR-test in 95.8% of cases and with QFT
in 91.7%. Conclusion. It was concluded that in difficult diagnostic cases in addition to the ATR-test either QuantiFERON or TB-Feron can be used.