Comparison of Mantoux and QuantiFERON TB gold tests for diagnosis of latent tuberculosis infection in army personnel

The tuberculin skin test (TST) was compared with QuantiFERON-TB Gold in-tube (QFT-GIT) test for the diagnosis of tuberculosis in non-Mycobacterium bovis BCG-vaccinated military personnel. Among subjects positive by TST, 44.4% of recruits were positive by QFT-GIT compared with 11.5% subjects tested after missions abroad, suggesting that most TST conversions in the latter group were caused by nontuberculous mycobacteria.