Use of Low Molecular Weight Antigens of Mycobacterium tuberculosis as a New Skin Test for Specific Diagnosis of Tuberculosis

Abstract

Accepted: 14 Sep, 2016 Abstract Background and Objectives: Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease and about one-third of the world population are infected with latent TB infection. Active TB infection may develop in 5 to10 percent of individuals with latent infection; therefore, detection of latent infection is of great importance in the control of the disease. The aim of this study was to develop a specific skin test based on low molecular weight proteins secreted by M. tuberculosis for detection of M. tuberculosis infection.