Screening for Latent Tuberculosis in Healthcare Workers With Quantiferon-Gold Assay: A Cost-Effectiveness Analysis

The ministry of health in Israel requires all health-care workers to undergo screening for latent Tuberculosis infection (LTBI) prior to starting work. This is based on the Mantoux skin test, which is notoriously unreliable.

In recent years, more specific and sensitive tests based on interferon-gamma secretion to TB antigens have come to market, and most current evidence shows that many mantoux positive persons do not have LTBI. Quantiferon-GOLD is one of these assays.

In this prospective study, we will draw blood for the Quantiferon-GOLD assay in parallel to conventional testing, and perform a cost-effectiveness analysis of the cost of the investigation and treatment of LTBI in health-care workers.

We hypothesize that in spite of the cost of screening healthcare workers with Quantiferon-GOLD tests, the reduction in need for LTBI treatment and associated costs will render the test cost-effective.