What is the advantage of a blood test over the TST as it relates to the impact on healthcare resources?
• A single blood test is required unlike the TST which requires the person being tested to visit the clinic at least twice. Up to one-third of people do not return to have their test read. This may result in wasted resources and potentially dangerous gaps when containing an outbreak. • Indirect resource and time costs associated with administering and reading the skin tests are relatively high. These are compounded by the fact that the tuberculin, once opened, has to be used within a short time period leading to potential wastage of unused stock. • Missed TB cases (false negatives and non-returners) may convert to TB disease leading to morbidity and higher costs of treating disease (including onward transmission).
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