Investigation of the effectiveness of gamma interferon release test in the diagnosisof latent tuberculosis

In our study, it was aimed to investigate the effectiveness of the test by investigating the results of the samples sent to Çukurova University Tropical Diseases Research Center Regional Tuberculosis Laboratory between May 2019 and May 2021 in order to investigate the effectiveness of the QuantiFERON-TB Gold Plus (QFT-Plus) test in the diagnosis of latent tuberculosis infection. 125 people, 50 healthy and 75 patients, were included in our study. A total of 15 patients in both groups were positive. Of the healthy group, 7 (14%) were found to be positive in the QFT-Plus test, and 43 (86%) were negative. Of the 75 patients included in the patient group, 8 (10.7%) were positive and 67 (89.3%) were negative. There was no statistically significant difference between the two patient groups. It was concluded that although the cost of the QFT plus test is high due to the lack of a gold standard test for the diagnosis of latent tuberculosis infection, its more frequent use may be beneficial in preventing the delay in the diagnosis and treatment of patients since it can be used as an aid in diagnosis and in screening.