[crayolamom]

As many of you know,Owen recently tested positive for LTB, he's started the meds and I still believe it might be a false positive do to the BCG vaccine. I MENTIONED THIS TO THE NURSE AT THE HEALTH DEPT, and she talked to the Dr about it on my behalf, so yesterday when we went it for Owen's dose of INH she offered us the opportunity to take another test? This test is called Quantiferon in-tube, has anyone taken this test, or does anyone know much about it? It is my understanding that it's a blood test to detect TB?
Thanks in advance for the help.

[DPline]

There are others more experienced who can speak to this better, but my understanding is that that test, while approved by the CDC for use in children, does not necessarily give an accurate reading for children. Definetly do some reasearch on it. I know there have been threads here on it as well.


ETA: There is a great thread here somewhere where DeeVee and a couple other people explained to me in great detail exactly how it is determined whether the reaction is from the BCG or from latent TB. I'll see if I can find it, but if I am remembering correctly, even if the child received the BCG vaccine, if the raised bump from the test is greater than 10 mm it should be considered positive for latent TB as the BCG should not cause that large of a reaction.

ETA again: This isn't the thread I was thinking of, but it is a good one and posts 18 and 26 I think are particularly informative. poll: has your child ever tested positive for tb?

[giovanni7460]

Giovanni is on the INH since October. I was told by his infectious disease Dr. that this test is not accurate in children.
Patty

[mevertin]

Last July I posted about my little guy's positive TB test. I got lots of good advice and a link to an article regarding the BCG vaccine and a positive result. I will look and see if I can find the thread and you can check out the link. Basically as DPline said-any reaction over 10 mm is not due to the vaccine.
Mary
mom to Bobby 11, Bridget 10, Angela 8, Eddie 4 (home from Guatemala in 2005) and Naldo 22 months (home since Feb. 08)

[mevertin]

The thread is titled "? about positive TB skin test". The reply from Mindybeth has a link to an article.
Mary

[cjrogers]

Hey Carolyn, sorry you have to deal with this. Our son will be finishing up his INH in a couple months. The Health Dept docs said that there were other tests but that the INH is best and tests were generally inaccurate. It's low dose, rare side effects if any (some kids get diarrhea and nausea). Basically said that it probably was BCG but if there was an exposure we should nip it in the bud now.

cj

[mightadopt]

My daughter tested positive on the skin test, negative on the chest xray & we then did the Quantiferun test. It was negative. It's only done in a few places (we chose Georgetown University Hospital).
My understanding is that it tests for TB exposure without regard to the BCG vaccine. Therefore, it gives a truer picture of whether the child was really TB exposed.
There is not a lot of data regarding children and the Quant. test. That's the reason CDC isn't recommending it. It's not that the Quant. test isn't accurate for children. Here's a CDC link:
http://www.cdc.gov/tb/pubs/tbfactsheets/QFT.pdf

[DeeVee]

Carolina was on INH for nine months with little or no side effects. Her PPD reaction was 12mm (over 10mm is considered to be from exposure to TB, and not from the BCG vaccine).

I checked with the CDC, an IA ped at Vanderbilt Children's Hospital, an infectious disease specialist at Vanderbilt, and our ped, as I was reluctant to give her meds she may not need.

The unanimous recommendation was to give her the meds. When I asked all these folks about the quantiferon gold test, they concurred that the test may not be reliable on children because there just has not been enough research done using the test for children. They basically said, "yes, you could have the test done, but as the results may be inconclusive, if it were my child, I'd give her the meds."

And keep in mind that the BCG vaccine does not prevent TB. It may slow the spread of the disease to the brain and other parts of the body, but it does not prevent it all together.

I hope this is helpful!