A world free of TB

Tuberculosis (TB) is an airborne, highly contagious, infectious disease caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB). Most frequently, TB affects the lungs, however, it can also cause disease in any part of the body, such as the lymph nodes, bones, brain, organs and eyes. TB is a serious disease that kills about 1.4 million people each year worldwide (1).

TB infection begins without symptoms before becoming active. This inactive carrier state is called latent TB infection (LTBI) and can persist for weeks, months or years before developing into active contagious disease. Although LTBI is not contagious, there is a ~10% average lifetime risk of it becoming active.

Active TB is a disease state of uncontrolled MTB growth which occurs when TB bacteria are able to overcome a person’s immune system and symptoms appear. Symptoms of active TB include chronic cough, fever, unexplained weight loss and, if severe, night sweats and even coughing up blood. A person who has active pulmonary TB is contagious.

Addressing the vast reservoir of latent TB infections through targeted LTBI testing and treatment can substantially reduce the number of people who develop active TB and can prevent further spread of the disease (1). Thus, the 120-year old tuberculin skin test is not sufficient to stop TB. A test that accurately identifies TB infection is critical to reducing the global TB burden.

QuantiFERON-TB Gold Plus (QFT^®-Plus) is a more accurate test for TB detection – endorsed by the WHO, embraced by the UN and IPPA and among the WHO’s 120 essential diagnostic tests. QFT-Plus uses an interferon-gamma release assay (IGRA) to measure the T cell immune response to MTB. Unlike the TST, QFT-Plus is not affected by the Bacille-Calmette Guérin (BCG) vaccination (2–4).