Screening for latent tuberculosis infection among patients with rheumatoid arthritis in the era of biologics and targeted synthetic disease ‐modifying anti‐rheumatic drugs in India, a high‐burden TB country: The importance of Mantoux and Quantiferon‐TB Gold tests

ConclusionCombined a‐TST with QFTG testing gave 43% positivity among RA patients, which is close to the reported ~ 40% Mantoux positivity in the general population. Therefore, this method for the screening of LTBI in Indian patients with RA being considered for tumor necrosis factor alpha treatment could be satisfactory for offsetting TB flare. It may apply to other high‐burden TB countries around the world.

Source: APLAR Journal of Rheumatology - December 1, 2017 Category: Rheumatology Authors: Anand N. Malaviya, Vishal K. Aggarwal, Roopa Rawat, Sadhana Baghel, Ravita Thakran, Qamar Zaheer, Shriram Garg, Sanjiv Kapoor Tags: Original Article Source Type: research