Abstract
Background: Though recent reports have indicated a higher prevalence of latent tuberculosis infection (LTBI) in laboratory personnel than in other healthcare workers, these studies included only a limited number of laboratory personnel. Methods: We have thus focused on the laboratory personnel, who had a high level of exposure to specimens from patients with TB. We recruited 173 laboratory personnel and performed QuantiFERON‐TB Gold In‐Tube test (QFT‐G) and tuberculin skin test (TST). Results: QFT‐G was positive in 21.4% of the enrolled laboratory personnel, and TST was positive in 33.3%. The agreement between the two tests was fair (κ = 0.234). In multivariate analyses, household contactwith TBpatients (P = 0.013), the laboratory sections of microbiology (P = 0.045) and chemistry/immunology (P = 0.014) were shown to be significantly associated with positive QFT‐G results. Conclusion: Our data show a high prevalence of TST and QFT‐G positivity in laboratory personnel and emphasize the importance of LTBI screening for laboratory personnel. In BCG‐vaccinated populations with an intermediate incidence setting, QFT‐G seems to be superior to TST as a screening tool for the detection of LTBI. Further study, including results of follow‐up tests will be helpful for confirmation of our findings. J. Clin. Lab. Anal. 25:382–388, 2011. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.