What does negative QuantiFERON mean?

Negative – suggests that TB infection is unlikely. Indeterminate – suggests the need for further investigations or repeat testing.

What does a negative TB titer mean?

Positive skin test: This means the person’s body was infected with TB bacteria. Additional tests are needed to determine if the person has latent TB infection or TB disease. Negative skin test: This means the person’s body did not react to the test, and that latent TB infection or TB disease is not likely.

What does a negative IGRA test mean?

A negative result means that it is likely that the person tested does not have a TB infection. However, it does not entirely rule out tuberculosis. It may mean that it is too early to detect exposure. It takes about 6 weeks after infection before a person demonstrates a positive reaction to an IGRA.

How long is a negative QuantiFERON test good for?

Although QFT is not recommended for confirmation of TST results, QFT can be used for surveillance <12 months after a negative TST, if the initial QFT is negative.

What does negative TB test look like?

The test is “negative” if there is no bump (or only a very small bump) at the spot where the fluid was injected. A negative TB skin test usually means that you don’t have TB. In some situations, you may need to have another TB skin test later.

What is the gold standard for TB diagnosis?

Nucleic Acid Amplification (NAA) Test Culture remains the gold standard for laboratory confirmation of TB disease, and growing bacteria are required to perform drug-susceptibility testing and genotyping.

Does QuantiFERON detect latent TB?

However, like the TST and other IGRAs, QFT cannot distinguish between active tuberculosis disease and latent tuberculosis infection, and is intended for use with risk assessment, radiography, and other medical and diagnostic evaluations. Like any diagnostic aid, QFT cannot replace clinical judgment.

What does a positive QuantiFERON test mean?

What do the QuantiFeron test results mean? When using the QFT, the nurse must always keep in mind the presence of certain risk factors, such as exposure to TB, HIV, and symptoms in order to understand the results. However, in general, • A positive test result usually means you have TB germs in your body.

What does positive QuantiFERON mean?

A positive quantiferon result is meaningful and even without a history of recent contact indicates that a M. tuberculosis infection is very likely. The quantiferon assay does not differentiate between recently acquired or old infection, or between a latent TB infection and active tuberculosis.

Does BCG cause a positive QuantiFERON?

Not needing to return for the test results like the tb skin test which requires 2 visits (we can send the results to you, your school or work) BCG vaccine will not cause a false positive in Quantiferon test as it sometimes does with a TB Skin test.

What is QuantiFERON testing?

An alternative to the tuberculin skin test (TST) The QuantiFERON®-TB Gold blood test (QFT-G) is a blood test for use as an aid in diagnosing Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection (both latent tuberculosis infection and active tuberculosis disease).3 The test is approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for use with adult patients.