Jornal Brasileiro de Pneumologia versão impressa ISSN 1806-3713
TEIXEIRA, Henrique Couto; ABRAMO, Clarice e MUNK, Martin Emilio.
Immunological diagnosis of tuberculosis: problems and strategies
for success. J. bras. pneumol. [online]. 2007, vol.33, n.3, pp.
323-334. ISSN 1806-3713.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/S1806-37132007000300015. Tuberculosis
remains a serious social and public health problem, affecting
millions of people annually. The bacille Calmette-Guerin (BCG)
vaccine, used prophylactically, does not impede the progression
of the disease, which usually manifests as decreased cellular
immunity. Early diagnosis, together with polychemotherapy, can
control the dissemination of the tuberculosis infection. The
current diagnostic methods present certain problems. Such
problems include the low sensitivity of sputum smear microscopy,
the fact that performing microbiological cultures is quite time-
consuming, and the low specificity of the skin test with the
purified protein derivative of M. tuberculosis. New di