title: Performance of the QuantiFERON-TB gold interferon gamma release assay among HIV-infected children in Botswana.
abstract: Interferon gamma release assays (IGRAs) are poorly studied in HIV-infected children. The authors prospectively evaluated QuantiFERON-TB Gold results and family-described tuberculosis (TB) risk factors in 100 HIV-infected children in Botswana. Median age was 10.2 years; 58 were girls, 92 had received the Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) vaccine, 98 were receiving antiretroviral therapy, and the median body mass index was 15.8 kg/m(2). Eighty-nine children had undetectable viral loads and the median CD4 count was 962 cells/mm(3). Eighteen children had been treated for TB in the last 3 years. In the last 3 years, 36 (including 9 with TB) had contact with persons with TB (26 within/15 outside the home and 5 had >1 contact). In all, 96 children had negative IGRAs, 3 were indeterminate, and 1 was positive. The positive IGRA was reported in a child treated for TB prior to 3 years. Interferon γ release assay positivity was rare in this pediatric cohort living in an area with a high prevalence of TB.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA Tuberculosis Initiative, Texas Children's Hospital, Houston, TX, USA acruz@bcm.edu.
authors.forename: Andrea T
authors.initials: AT
authors.lastname: Cruz
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA Tuberculosis Initiative, Texas Children's Hospital, Houston, TX, USA Botswana-Baylor Children's Clinical Centre of Excellence, Gaborone, Botswana.
authors.forename: Marape
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Marape
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology and Genomic Medicine, The Methodist Hospital Research Institute, Houston, TX, USA.
authors.forename: Edward A
authors.initials: EA
authors.lastname: Graviss
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA Tuberculosis Initiative, Texas Children's Hospital, Houston, TX, USA.
authors.forename: Jeffrey R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Starke
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001902:Botswana / Q000453:epidemiology; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000150:complications* / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D059425:Interferon-gamma Release Tests / Q000379:methods*; D055985:Latent Tuberculosis / Q000150:complications* / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male
keywords: HIV; interferon gamma release assay; latent tuberculosis infection; prevention; tuberculosis; tuberculosis risk factors