QuantiFERON-TB Gold Plus details

The QuantiFERON-TB Gold Plus test is a blood-based alternative to the traditional tuberculin skin test (PPD/Mantoux test) used to check whether your immune system has been exposed to tuberculosis (TB) bacteria at some point. It works by exposing a blood sample to TB-specific proteins and measuring your immune cells' response; unlike the skin test, it isn't affected by prior BCG vaccination (common in some countries) and only requires one visit, since there's no need to return in 48-72 hours to have a skin reaction read. A positive result indicates TB exposure (latent or active infection) but doesn't by itself distinguish between the two, which requires further clinical evaluation, including imaging and symptom assessment.