Tuberculosis screening programme for undocumented immigrant teenagers using the QuantiFERON®-TB Gold In-Tube test

Abstract Background and objective The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of tuberculosis infection in undocumented immigrant teenagers using a tuberculin skin test (TST) for initial screening and QuantiFERON ® -TB Gold In-Tube (QFT-GIT) as a confirmatory test. Patient and method From 2007 to 2012, under 19-year-old immigrant teenagers from 2 accommodation centres of the Basque Country (Spain) were included in the study. The TST was done in all of them and the QFT-GIT was done in selected patients with a TST ≥ 5 mm. Results Eight hundred and forty-five immigrants were included, most of them from Africa (99.5%). Fifty-one percent of immigrants with TST ≥ 5 mm has a positive QFT-GIT. We found 2 cases of active tuberculosis (2/845: 0.24%). The concordance between TST (≥10 mm) and QFT-GIT was 63%, with 57% of positive concordance cases and 96% of negative concordances. There were 246 cases with TST ≥ 10 mm (29%), with significant differences between Magrebis (21.5%) and Subsaharians (67%) ( p p Conclusion Due to the high prevalence of latent tuberculosis infection in Subsaharian immigrants, we recommend implementing screening programmes in this population. Using QFT-GIT, the number of candidates for chemoprophylaxis was reduced to 43% compared with TST alone (≥10 mm).