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Review of Nucleic Acid Amplification Tests and Clinical Prediction Rules for Diagnosis of Tuberculosis in Acute Care Facilities

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 July 2015

Amit S. Chitnis ,
J. Lucian Davis ,
Gisela F. Schecter ,
Pennan M. Barry  and
Jennifer M. Flood
Amit S. Chitnis*
Affiliation:
Tuberculosis Control Branch, Division of Communicable Disease Control, Center for Infectious Diseases, California Department of Public Health, Richmond, California
J. Lucian Davis
Affiliation:
Department of Epidemiology of Microbial Diseases, School of Public Health, and Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care, & Sleep Medicine, School of Medicine, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut
Gisela F. Schecter
Affiliation:
Tuberculosis Control Branch, Division of Communicable Disease Control, Center for Infectious Diseases, California Department of Public Health, Richmond, California
Pennan M. Barry
Affiliation:
Tuberculosis Control Branch, Division of Communicable Disease Control, Center for Infectious Diseases, California Department of Public Health, Richmond, California
Jennifer M. Flood
Affiliation:
Tuberculosis Control Branch, Division of Communicable Disease Control, Center for Infectious Diseases, California Department of Public Health, Richmond, California
*
Address correspondence to Amit S. Chitnis, MD, MPH, 850 Marina Bay Parkway, Building P, 2nd Floor, Richmond, CA 94804 (amitschitnis@gmail.com).
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Abstract

Tuberculosis (TB) remains an important cause of hospitalization and mortality in the United States. Prevention of TB transmission in acute care facilities relies on prompt identification and implementation of airborne isolation, rapid diagnosis, and treatment of presumptive pulmonary TB patients. In areas with low TB burden, this strategy may result in inefficient utilization of airborne infection isolation rooms (AIIRs). We reviewed TB epidemiology and diagnostic approaches to inform optimal TB detection in low-burden settings. Published clinical prediction rules for individual studies have a sensitivity ranging from 81% to 100% and specificity ranging from 14% to 63% for detection of culture-positive pulmonary TB patients admitted to acute care facilities. Nucleic acid amplification tests (NAATs) have a specificity of >98%, and the sensitivity of NAATs varies by acid-fast bacilli sputum smear status (positive smear, ≥95%; negative smear, 50%–70%). We propose an infection prevention strategy using a clinical prediction rule to identify patients who warrant diagnostic evaluation for TB in an AIIR with an NAAT. Future studies are needed to evaluate whether use of clinical prediction rules and NAATs results in optimized utilization of AIIRs and improved detection and treatment of presumptive pulmonary TB patients.

Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol 2015;36(10):1215–1225

Information

Type
Review Article
Information
Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology , Volume 36 , Issue 10 , October 2015 , pp. 1215 - 1225
Copyright
© 2015 by The Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America. All rights reserved 

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