الفهرس 
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Abstract
Tuberculosis (TB) remains a problem worldwide and, despite significant efforts, mortality and incidence rates remain alarmingly high. World Health Organization reported the incidence of approximately 8 million new cases and nearly 2 million deaths in 2006 worldwide. Timely diagnosis is crucial to TB control, as it provides early initiation therapy and limits further spread of infection. Treatment of latent TB Infection has been shown to be an effective and safe method of preventing progression to disease in infected individuals following screening and will need to be part of a TB elimination strategy (Falk & Fuchs, 1978). Several diagnostic methods for detecting TB have been used over the years including skin test, sputum smear, and sputum culture and chest x-ray. But all these methods have some limitations.
The aim of this study is to compare the sensitivity of Tuberculin skin test, Gamma interferon Release Assay and rapid chromatographic immunoassay for the qualitative detection of anti-TB antibodies
in diagnosis of active Pulmonary tuberculosis in upper Egypt
Seventy patients with pulmonary disease suspected clinically and radiologically to be tuberculosis were chosen from chest department of Sohag university hospital during the period from
11 march 2011 to 25 June 2013.
25 matched patents were included as a reference control group.
All of them were subjected to Thorough clinical examination, Chest X-ray , ESR ,CBC ,HIV detection by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELIZA). ,Fasting blood sugar , Direct smear examination for AFB by Ziehl–Neelsen stain , Culture medium for isolation of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Lowenstein–Jensen medium)
, rapid chromatographic immunoassay for the qualitative detection of anti-TB antibodies (Isotypes IgG, IgM and IgA) in whole blood, serum or plasma specimens.(ACON TB, ACON Laboratories),Tuberculin skin test (TST),QuantiFERON-TB Gold in-tube test (QFT-IT) (QFT-IT test; Cellestis Ltd, Carnegie, Australia)
Sensitivity and specificity of QTF tests varied according to ethnic variations in different countries .
In our community in (upper Egypt) , Sensitivity and specificity of QTF was 78.6% and 66.1% , they are better than of Tuberculin skin test which are 71.4% and 60.4% either or rabid immunochromatographic test 47.6% ,83% .