title: Performance of the Interferon Gamma Release Assays in Tuberculosis Disease in Children Five Years Old or Less.
abstract: Interferon Gamma Release Assays (IGRAs) were developed for the indirect or immunologic diagnosis of tuberculosis infection; however, they have also been used to assist in difficult to diagnose cases of tuberculosis disease in adults, and to a lesser extent, in children, especially in those under 5 years old. We evaluated the utility of using an IGRA in pediatric tuberculosis in younger children in a hospital setting. The diagnostic accuracy of T-SPOT.TB and TST was assessed in 117 children with active tuberculosis and 413 children with respiratory tract infection. Sensitivity and specificity were calculated for the tests used individually and together. Concordance was also calculated. Sensitivity of T-SPOT.TB (82.9%) was higher than TST (78.6% using a 5mm cut-off), especially in children confirmed to have TB. T-SPOT.TB was more specific than TST using a 5mm cut-off (96.1% vs. 70.9%). Combining T-SPOT.TB and TST results improved the sensitivity to 96.6%. In conclusion, the results of the current study indicate that T-SPOT.TB has good sensitivity and specificity, supporting its use among patients of this age. A combination of IGRA and TST would be useful additions to assist in the diagnosis of childhood TB.
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Major Diseases in Children and National Key Discipline of Pediatrics (Capital Medical University), Ministry of Education, National Clinical Research Center for Respiratory Diseases, Beijing Key Laboratory of Pediatric Respiratory Infection Diseases, Beijing Pediatric Research Institute, Beijing Children's Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Lin
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Major Diseases in Children and National Key Discipline of Pediatrics (Capital Medical University), Ministry of Education, National Clinical Research Center for Respiratory Diseases, Beijing Key Laboratory of Pediatric Respiratory Infection Diseases, Beijing Pediatric Research Institute, Beijing Children's Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Jian-ling
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Tian
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Major Diseases in Children and National Key Discipline of Pediatrics (Capital Medical University), Ministry of Education, National Clinical Research Center for Respiratory Diseases, Beijing Key Laboratory of Pediatric Respiratory Infection Diseases, Beijing Pediatric Research Institute, Beijing Children's Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Qing-qin
authors.initials: QQ
authors.lastname: Yin
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Major Diseases in Children and National Key Discipline of Pediatrics (Capital Medical University), Ministry of Education, National Clinical Research Center for Respiratory Diseases, Beijing Key Laboratory of Pediatric Respiratory Infection Diseases, Beijing Pediatric Research Institute, Beijing Children's Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Jing
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Xiao
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Major Diseases in Children and National Key Discipline of Pediatrics (Capital Medical University), Ministry of Education, National Clinical Research Center for Respiratory Diseases, Beijing Key Laboratory of Pediatric Respiratory Infection Diseases, Beijing Pediatric Research Institute, Beijing Children's Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Jie-qiong
authors.initials: JQ
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Major Diseases in Children and National Key Discipline of Pediatrics (Capital Medical University), Ministry of Education, National Clinical Research Center for Respiratory Diseases, Beijing Key Laboratory of Pediatric Respiratory Infection Diseases, Beijing Pediatric Research Institute, Beijing Children's Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Ya-jie
authors.initials: YJ
authors.lastname: Guo
authors.affiliation: Center for Clinical Epidemiology & Evidence-based Medicine, Beijing Children's Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Guo-shuang
authors.initials: GS
authors.lastname: Feng
authors.affiliation: Center for Clinical Epidemiology & Evidence-based Medicine, Beijing Children's Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Xiao-xia
authors.initials: XX
authors.lastname: Peng
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Major Diseases in Children and National Key Discipline of Pediatrics (Capital Medical University), Ministry of Education, National Clinical Research Center for Respiratory Diseases, Beijing Key Laboratory of Pediatric Respiratory Infection Diseases, Beijing Pediatric Research Institute, Beijing Children's Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Hui
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Qi
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Major Diseases in Children and National Key Discipline of Pediatrics (Capital Medical University), Ministry of Education, National Clinical Research Center for Respiratory Diseases, Beijing Key Laboratory of Pediatric Respiratory Infection Diseases, Beijing Pediatric Research Institute, Beijing Children's Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Fang
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Major Diseases in Children and National Key Discipline of Pediatrics (Capital Medical University), Ministry of Education, National Clinical Research Center for Respiratory Diseases, Beijing Key Laboratory of Pediatric Respiratory Infection Diseases, Beijing Pediatric Research Institute, Beijing Children's Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Wei-wei
authors.initials: WW
authors.lastname: Jiao
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Major Diseases in Children and National Key Discipline of Pediatrics (Capital Medical University), Ministry of Education, National Clinical Research Center for Respiratory Diseases, Beijing Key Laboratory of Pediatric Respiratory Infection Diseases, Beijing Pediatric Research Institute, Beijing Children's Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Chen
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Shen
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Major Diseases in Children and National Key Discipline of Pediatrics (Capital Medical University), Ministry of Education, National Clinical Research Center for Respiratory Diseases, Beijing Key Laboratory of Pediatric Respiratory Infection Diseases, Beijing Pediatric Research Institute, Beijing Children's Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: A-dong
authors.initials: AD
authors.lastname: Shen
mesh_terms: D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D059425:Interferon-gamma Release Tests / Q000379:methods*; D008297:Male; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D014376:Tuberculosis / Q000175:diagnosis*