ArticlePloS one2013
Repeat IGRA testing in Canadian health workers: conversions or unexplained variability?
Article in PloS one, 2013. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 29 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
29 citing papers in PubMed, 67 citations in OpenAlex.
- Primary Prophylaxis to Prevent Tuberculosis Infection in Prison Inmates: A Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Trial.The American journal of tropical medicine and hygiene · 2020Trial
- Low TB1 and TB2 antigen-nil is associated with increased QuantiFERON Gold Plus reversions.The international journal of tuberculosis and lung disease : the official journal of the International Union against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease · 2026Article
- Brazilian guidelines for the management of tuberculosis infection in immune-mediated inflammatory diseases: is retesting in latent tuberculosis screening appropriate and Safe?Advances in rheumatology (London, England) · 2025Article
- Variability of interferon-γ release assays in people at high risk of tuberculosis infection or progression to tuberculosis disease living in the United States.Clinical microbiology and infection : the official publication of the European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases · 2022Article
- Tuberculosis Infection Screening in 5468 Italian Healthcare Students: Investigation of a Borderline Zone Value for the QFT-Test.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2020Article
- In the time of strategies to end tuberculosis, prevention is better than treatment.Jornal brasileiro de pneumologia : publicacao oficial da Sociedade Brasileira de Pneumologia e Tisilogia · 2020Article
- Evaluating Latent Tuberculosis Infection Test Performance Using Latent Class Analysis in a TB and HIV Endemic Setting.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2019Article
- Paradox of serial interferon-gamma release assays: variability width more important than specificity size.The international journal of tuberculosis and lung disease : the official journal of the International Union against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease · 2018Article
- Evaluation of QuantiFERON-TB Gold-Plus in Health Care Workers in a Low-Incidence Setting.Journal of clinical microbiology · 2017Article
- Revisiting annual screening for latent tuberculosis infection in healthcare workers: a cost-effectiveness analysis.BMC medicine · 2017Article
- Serial QuantiFERON testing and tuberculosis disease risk among young children: an observational cohort study.The Lancet. Respiratory medicine · 2017Observational
- Interferon-gamma release assay for the diagnosis of latent tuberculosis infection: A latent-class analysis.PloS one · 2017Article
- QFT-Plus: a plus in variability? - Evaluation of new generation IGRA in serial testing of students with a migration background in Germany.Journal of occupational medicine and toxicology (London, England) · 2017Article
- Serial testing for latent tuberculosis using QuantiFERON-TB Gold In-Tube: A Markov model.Scientific reports · 2016Article
- In vitro immunomodulation for enhancing T cell-based diagnosis of Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection.Diagnostic microbiology and infectious disease · 2015Article
- Vitamin D status and incidence of tuberculosis infection conversion in contacts of pulmonary tuberculosis patients: a prospective cohort study.Epidemiology and infection · 2015Article
- Incidence of occupational latent tuberculosis infection in South African healthcare workers.The European respiratory journal · 2015Article
- The dynamics of QuantiFERON-TB gold in-tube conversion and reversion in a cohort of South African adolescents.American journal of respiratory and critical care medicine · 2015Article
- Cough Aerosol Cultures of Mycobacterium tuberculosis: Insights on TST / IGRA Discordance and Transmission Dynamics.PloS one · 2015Article
- The seasonality of tuberculosis, sunlight, vitamin D, and household crowding.The Journal of infectious diseases · 2014Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
9 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundAlthough North American hospitals are switching from tuberculin testing (TST) to interferon-gamma release assays (IGRAs), data are limited on the association between occupational exposure and serial QuantiFERON-TB Gold In-Tube (QFT) results in healthcare workers (HCWs).
methodsIn a cohort of Canadian HCWs, TST and QFT were performed at study enrolment (TST1 and QFT1) and 1 year later (TST2 and QFT2). Conversion and reversion rates were estimated, and correlation with TB exposure was assessed.
resultsAmong 258 HCWs, median age was 36.8 years, 188/258 (73%) were female and 183/258 (71%) were Canadian-born. In 245 subjects with a negative QFT1 we found a QFT conversion rate of 5.3% (13/245, 95% CI 2.9-8.9%). Using more stringent definitions, QFT conversion rates ranged from 2.0 to 5.3%. No TST conversions were found among the 241 HCWs with negative TST1, and no measure of recent TB exposure was associated with QFT conversions. In the 13 HCWs with a positive QFT1, 62% reverted.
conclusionUsing the conventional QFT conversion definition, we found a higher than expected rate of conversion. Recent occupational exposures were not associated with QFT conversions, and no TST conversions occurred in this cohort, suggesting the 'conversions' may not reflect new TB infection.
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