TB Research

Real-World Outcomes of Chemiluminescence Immunoassay Implementation for <i>Mycobacterium tuberculosis</i> Infection Screening

Eli Wilber, Marcos C Schechter, Paulina A. Rebolledo, Sheetal Kandiah, Bruce Aldred, Yun F. Wang, Susan M Ray

Open Forum Infectious Diseases · 2026-04

Abstract

Fully automated interferon gamma release assays based on chemiluminescence immunoassay promise more efficient testing for tuberculosis infection but increase rates of positive test results when compared with semiautomated assays. We report an increase in borderline-positive interferon gamma release assay results (87.8% relative increase; 95% CI, 31.1%-170.0%), which led to modifications in clinical care following chemiluminescence immunoassay implementation.

MeSH terms

  • Medicine
  • Internal medicine
  • Immunoassay
  • Screening test
  • Chemiluminescence
  • Tuberculosis
  • Immunology
  • Interferon γ
  • Interferon gamma release assay
  • Primary care
  • Virology
  • Medical screening
  • Tuberculosis diagnosis