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Negative Tuberculin Skin Test and Prediction of Reversion of QuantiFERON Interferon Gamma Release Assay in US Healthcare Workers

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 January 2016

Wendy Thanassi ,
Art Noda ,
Beatriz Hernandez ,
Leah Friedman ,
Susan Dorman  and
Jerome Yesavage
Wendy Thanassi*
Affiliation:
Occupational Health Service, Veterans Affairs Health Care System, Palo Alto, California Occupational Health Strategic Health Care Group, Office of Public Health, Veterans Health Administration, Washington, DC Department of Internal Medicine, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California
Art Noda
Affiliation:
War Related Illness and Injury Study Center and Mental Illness Research Education and Clinical Center, Department of Veterans Affairs, Palo Alto, California Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California
Beatriz Hernandez
Affiliation:
War Related Illness and Injury Study Center and Mental Illness Research Education and Clinical Center, Department of Veterans Affairs, Palo Alto, California Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California
Leah Friedman
Affiliation:
War Related Illness and Injury Study Center and Mental Illness Research Education and Clinical Center, Department of Veterans Affairs, Palo Alto, California Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California
Susan Dorman
Affiliation:
Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland.
Jerome Yesavage
Affiliation:
War Related Illness and Injury Study Center and Mental Illness Research Education and Clinical Center, Department of Veterans Affairs, Palo Alto, California Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California
*
Address correspondence to Wendy Thanassi, MA, MD, VA Palo Alto Health Care System, 3801 Miranda Ave, Palo Alto, CA 94304 ([email protected]).
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Abstract

QuantiFERON tuberculosis tests (QFT) reverted in (612) 77% of 1,094 low-risk healthcare workers (HCW) testing less than 1.16 IU/mL. Of HCW testing greater than 1.1 IU/mL, 33 (59%) of 56 with negative tuberculin skin tests (TST) reverted vs 8 (6%) of 125 with positive TSTs. Retesting low-risk QFT-positive and TST-negative HCW is prudent.

Infect. Control Hosp. Epidemiol. 2016;37(4):478–482

Type
Concise Communications
Information
Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology , Volume 37 , Issue 4 , April 2016 , pp. 478 - 482
Copyright
© 2016 by The Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America. All rights reserved 

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References

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