A Review on Occupational Tuberculosis and Its Diagnostic Methods in Iran

Tuberculosis is one of the most important communicable infections in the health system. Knowing the presence or absence of the disease in health workers who can remain latent [LTBI] helps the health system by early detection of TB infection and timely use Prevent chemoprophylaxis from occurring. For this reason, all prestigious universities in the world and most health care centers have developed programs to prevent these people from developing the disease, including various aspects of prevention including before and after contact. These programs are tuberculin skin test (TST) to check for the presence of occult tuberculosis as a standard method of diagnosis. Since various factors influence the results of the TST test, this test may not be the definitive answer for infection in the individual. Therefore, in another test called IGRA (Interferon γ Release Assay) or QFT test (QuantiFERON-TB Gold In tube), the level of interferon gamma secreted by lymphocytes stimulated with specific Mycobacterium tuberculosis antigens is measured. More specifically, latent TB can be examined. Therefore, in this review study, in addition to reviewing available tests for latent tuberculosis, the results of various studies conducted in the country to evaluate the latency of latent tuberculosis among health workers in different diagnostic and treatment centers are compared.