Oxford, UK; 23 May 2008 - Oxford Immunotec, the T cell measurement company, today announced the publication of a recent study, demonstrating the efficacy of using T-SPOT.TB to identify TB infection in HIV infected subjects.
In this study reported in Clinical and Experimental Immunology Clark et al showed that the T-SPOT.TB test was unaffected by CD4 count, having the same high sensitivity in patients with a very low CD4 count (less than 100 cells/l) as those with a more normal CD4 count (above 400 cells/l).
In the publication the authors conclude that "T-SPOT.TB is a useful assay to screen for TB infection even in HIV-1 patients with low CD4 counts and can be used in routine clinical practice."
Commenting on the results, Dr Peter Wrighton-Smith, Chief Executive Officer of Oxford Immunotec said, "This study confirms the role of T-SPOT.TB in the identification of TB infection in HIV infected subjects. This is particularly important as TB is one of the major causes of death in HIV infected subjects and the rates of TB/HIV co-infection are reaching epidemic proportions in some populations."
