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Latent tuberculosis infection in children: diagnostic approaches

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Abstract

Tuberculosis (TB) remains an important public health problem and a leading infectious cause of death. Diagnosis and treatment of latent tuberculosis infection (LTBI) is important for TB control and elimination. Nevertheless, the diagnosis of LTBI in both adults and children remains complex, since there is no gold standard. The development of interferon gamma release assays was a major breakthrough in the diagnosis of LTBI. The evaluation of IGRAs in the diagnosis of LTBI in children is proven to be difficult since childhood TB differs from adults as immune responses vary with age. Separate studies assessing IGRAs performance in children are still limited, and only a few of them divide results by narrow age groups Nevertheless, new approaches are being exploited by the ongoing research for the development of more efficient diagnostic tools. It is likely that many changes in both the diagnosis and management of LTBI will occur in the near future. We believe that better understanding of the immunopathology of latency can ultimately lead to the development of more effective strategies in TB control. In the present review we summarize current data on diagnosis of LTBI in children, underscoring the existing challenges and limitations.

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Abbreviations

TB:

Tuberculosis

LTBI:

Latent tuberculosis infection

TST:

Tuberculin skin test

IGRAS:

Interferon gamma release assays

Mtb:

Mycobacterium tuberculosis

BCG:

Bacillus Calmette-Guerin

QFT:

QuantiFERON-TB test

MDR:

Multidrug resistant

IC:

Immunocompromised

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Statement of interest

The authors are members of the European Society of Pediatric Infectious Diseases (ESPID). V. Amanatidou is a researcher funded by the 2010 ESPID Fellowship Award.

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Amanatidou, V., Syridou, G., Mavrikou, M. et al. Latent tuberculosis infection in children: diagnostic approaches. Eur J Clin Microbiol Infect Dis 31, 1285–1294 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10096-011-1524-3

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