I tried unsuccessfully for several months," says Kinard. "We had to find a lab that was willing to do the test. Sierra Health contracts with a private lab that runs the tests. "We're saving a tremendous amount of money, and we feel more comfortable with the results," she says.Īlthough the blood test represents a significant advance in TB screening, there still are obstacles for hospitals to overcome as they adapt to the new technology.
#Negative tb test skin#
Employees no longer have to return for their skin test to be read, and employee health doesn't have to keep track of the "two-step" tests that require two placements and two readings for new employees. Meanwhile, the new screening protocol is much easier to administer and saves hundreds of hours of employee time, says Kinard. Previously, only one or two employees a year would accept treatment for latent TB infection, says Kinard.
#Negative tb test full#
Of 121 employees who tested positive and received follow-up evaluation from the Clark County Health District in the first full year of QuantiFERON testing, 28 opted to take the treatment. Those who tested positive with QuantiFERON at Sierra Health were more likely to accept treatment for latent TB infection. The blood test is more specific than the skin test and does not react to BCG or other mycobacteria. QuantiFERON is a whole blood assay test that measures the amount of interferon-gamma produced after the blood is incubated for six to 13 hours with TB antigens. But after educational sessions on QuantiFERON, they understood the difference between the blood test and the skin test, she says. "People questioned the results," acknowledged Kinard.
It was hard for some of those employees to accept the change in status. Many of the previously positive employees were foreign-born and had a history of BCG vaccination. Only 44 of those employees (19.7%) tested positive on the blood test. The health system, which includes a same-day surgery center, hospice, home health, and clinics, retested 218 employees who had previous positive skin tests. Sierra Health began using the QuantiFERON-TB Gold test, manufactured by Cellestis, among its 1,600 employees in 2005. Switching from the skin test to the blood test can completely change the profile of your tuberculosis screening program, as many TB-positive employees suddenly learn that they are not infected.Īlthough that change may be unsettling to employees, they ultimately gain greater confidence in their TB test results and appreciate the swifter screening process, says Jackie Kinard, RN, APN, COHN-S, occupational health specialist at Sierra Health Services in Las Vegas. In this setting antibiotics are given for 3-9 months.Blood test shifts HCWs from TB-positive to negativeĮmployees have more faith in TB blood test If, however, there is no active infection, antibiotics can be used to prevent trouble in the future. Anyone with active TB should get an effective combination of medications to be cured. If a person tests positive for carrying the TB bacteria in their body, tests are done to determine whether it is currently causing infection of the lungs (which is contagious). The other is a blood test called an interferon-gamma release assay (IGRA) (QuantiFERON and TSpotTB are two examples of IGRA blood tests). One is the TB skin test (also known as PPD), which requires the person to return to the clinic 2-3 days after the skin test is placed for the test to be interpreted. There are two types of tests to determine whether people are carrying the TB bacteria. But some people who carry the bacteria develop tuberculosis disease, and this is more likely if the immune system is weakened. Most people who are exposed to TB don't get sick from it-the bacteria can live in the body for a long time without causing disease.
TB is short for tuberculosis, an infection usually spread by breathing in air that has been contaminated by someone with TB of the lungs.
#Negative tb test software#
0 kommentar(er)
