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The Predictive Value of the ELISpot-Based Interferon-[ggr ]–Release Assay for Tuberculosis Disease
- Ajit Lalvani, DM; and
- Kerry A. Millington, DPhil
- From Imperial College London, London W2 1PG, United Kingdom.
IN RESPONSE:
We thank Dr. Hesseling and colleagues for recognizing the importance of our study. Although our estimates of the prognostic power of ELISpot and TST were broadly similar, we did not conclude that ELISpot does not predict disease progression significantly better than TST. The number of incident tuberculosis cases in our cohort was insufficient to determine whether 1 test was statistically significantly more prognostic than the other; such comparisons require additional larger studies. We complied with STARD (Standards for the Reporting of Diagnostic accuracy studies) guidelines as far as possible, given that this was a study of prognostic power and not diagnostic utility.
We discussed the paucibacillary nature of childhood tuberculosis and the diagnostic challenge it poses. Contrary to …
