ArticlePloS one2014
Availability and use of molecular microbiological and immunological tests for the diagnosis of tuberculosis in europe.
Article in PloS one, 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 11 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
11 citing papers in PubMed, 34 citations in OpenAlex.
- Clinical presentation, diagnostics, and outcomes of infants with congenital and postnatal tuberculosis: a multicentre cohort study of the Paediatric Tuberculosis Network European Trials Group (ptbnet).The Lancet regional health. Europe · 2025Article
- Anti-dsDNA B-Cell ELISpot as a Monitoring and Flare Prediction Tool in SLE Patients.Journal of clinical medicine · 2023Article
- Host, technical, and environmental factors affecting QuantiFERON-TB Gold In-Tube performance in children below 5 years of age.Scientific reports · 2022Article
- Strengthening Tuberculosis Services for Children and Adolescents in Low Endemic Settings.Pathogens (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Article
- COVID-19 in children and adolescents in Europe: a multinational, multicentre cohort study.The Lancet. Child & adolescent health · 2020Article
- Performance of immune-based and microbiological tests in children with tuberculosis meningitis in Europe: a multicentre Paediatric Tuberculosis Network European Trials Group (ptbnet) study.The European respiratory journal · 2020Article
- Calcineurin Inhibitors and Variation in the Performance of Interferon-γ Release Assays Used to Detect Tuberculosis Infection.Annals of the American Thoracic Society · 2019Article
- Factors affectinsg the utilization of Xpert MTB/RIF assay among TB clinic health workers in Addis Ababa.Journal of clinical tuberculosis and other mycobacterial diseases · 2018Article
- Variability in distribution and use of tuberculosis diagnostic tests in Kenya: a cross-sectional survey.BMC infectious diseases · 2018Article
- Mycobacterial DNA extraction for whole-genome sequencing from early positive liquid (MGIT) cultures.Journal of clinical microbiology · 2015Article
- Current use and acceptability of novel diagnostic tests for active tuberculosis: a worldwide survey.Jornal brasileiro de pneumologia : publicacao oficial da Sociedade Brasileira de Pneumologia e TisilogiaArticle
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
8 authors at 8 institutions in 7 countries.
Funding
Abstract
introductionCurrently only limited data exist regarding the availability and clinical use of molecular and immunological tests for tuberculosis (TB) in the European setting.
methodsWeb-based survey of Paediatric-Tuberculosis-Network-European-Trialsgroup (ptbnet) and Tuberculosis-Network-European-Trialsgroup (TBnet) members conducted June to December 2013. Both networks comprise clinicians, microbiologists, epidemiologists and researchers predominately based in Europe.
results191 healthcare professionals from 31 European countries participated. Overall, 26.8% of respondents did not have access to the Xpert MTB/RIF assay; only 44.6% had access to the assay in-house. However, a substantial proportion had access to other commercial and/or non-commercial PCR-based assays for TB (68.8% and 31.8%, respectively). Only 6.4% did not have access to any PCR-based assays for TB. A large proportion of participants with access to the Xpert MTB/RIF assay had used it for the analysis of non-respiratory samples [pleural fluid: 36.5%, gastric aspirates: 34.7%, cerebrospinal fluid: 34.7%, stool samples: 4.3%, blood/serum: 2.6%, 'other samples' (which included biopsy/tissue samples, lymph node aspirates, joint aspirates and urine samples): 16.5%]. Regarding interferon-gamma release assays, a greater proportion of respondents had access to the QuantiFERON-TB Gold assay (84.7%) than to the T-SPOT.TB assay (52.2%).
conclusionsBoth immunological and molecular TB tests are widely available across Europe. The QuantiFERON-TB Gold assay is more widely used than the T-SPOT.TB assay, which may reflect the difficulties of integrating an ELISPOT assay into the routine laboratory setting. Although Xpert MTB/RIF assays are optimised and solely licensed for the analysis of sputum samples, in clinical practice they are commonly used for non-respiratory samples. Further research is needed to establish how current molecular TB tests impact on patient care and outcome in the routine clinical setting.
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