QuantiFERON-TB GOLD ELISA assay for the detection of Mycobacterium tuberculosis-specific antigens in blood specimens of HIV-positive patients in a high-burden country.

Tuberculosis is a life-threatening infection worldwide. Despite improvements in therapy, it results in 2 million deaths and 9 million new cases annually. This study evaluated the use of the QuantiFERON-TB GOLD enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay in a high HIV/TB burden setting in an ARV clinic at the Tshwane District Hospital, South Africa. The sensitivity and specificity of the QF assay in the clinic were 30% (9/30) and 63% (19/30), respectively, when compared with the gold standard culture results. Analysis also suggested that the sensitivity of the QuantiFERON assay is determined by a limiting patient CD4 value between 150 and 200.