TB TESTS WITHOUT JABS OK'D BY FDA PROCEDURE DEVELOPED BY VALENCIA COMPANY.Byline: Daily News VALENCIA - A one-step blood test for tuberculosis developed by a local company could be used alongside the traditional skin prick test, according to new guidelines published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), agency of the U.S. Public Health Service since 1973, with headquarters in Atlanta; it was established in 1946 as the Communicable Disease Center. . The agency this month posted criteria for using the QuantiFERON-TB Gold test developed by Cellestis, Inc., of Valencia. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration in May approved the test for use to diagnose tuberculosis infection. It will qualify for Medicare and Medicaid Medicare and Medicaid U.S. government programs in effect since 1966. Medicare covers most people 65 or older and those with long-term disabilities. Part A, a hospital insurance plan, also pays for home health visits and hospice care. reimbursement beginning the first of the year. Tuberculosis remains a problem in the United States - more than 14,000 cases were reported in 2003, according to the CDC See Control Data, century date change and Back Orifice. CDC - Control Data Corporation . ``One of the greatest problems in combating this disease has been the reliance on an antiquated detection method,'' Dr. Tony Radford, managing director at Cellestis, said in a statement. ``These guidelines represent a significant advancement in the detection and potential elimination of TB in the United States.'' The guidelines, published in the CDC's Dec. 16 Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR) is a weekly epidemiological digest for the United States published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The 5 June 1981 issue of the MMWR published the cases of five men in what turned out to be the first report of AIDS. , said the new test can be administered in place of the 100-year-old tuberculin skin test Tuberculin Skin Test Definition Tuberculosis (TB) is an airborne infectious disease caused by the bacteria Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Besides culturing in the laboratory, the two most common types of tests to screen for exposure to this disease , which involves injections on the forearm delivered through six tiny prongs and requires patients to return to their physician days later to interpret results. The CDC said studies have found QuantiFERON-TB Gold more sensitive than the skin test in some instances. ``QuantiFERON-TB GOLD represents a breakthrough in TB diagnosis and control and offers several important advantages, including the fact that it is more accurate than the (tuberculin skin test) and only requires one visit,'' David DeBiasi, director of community health and tuberculosis services for the American Lung Association The American Lung Association (ALA) is a non-profit organization that "fights lung disease in all its forms, with special emphasis on asthma, tobacco control and environmental health". of Virginia, said in a statement prepared by Cellestis. QuantiFERON-TB GOLD also is able to detect latent or nonsymptomatic TB in individuals while eliminating candidates who have had vaccinations for TB, a common cause for false-positive readings with the skin test. The blood test is highly specific because it measures immune responses to peptides that simulate tuberculosis proteins not present in the vaccine, the company said. The company's parent, Australia-based Cellestis Ltd., is publicly traded on the Australian Stock Exchange Australian Stock Exchange (ASX) Australia's major securities market, formed when the six state stock exchanges (Adelaide, Brisbane, Hobart, Melbourne, Perth, and Sydney stock exchanges) were merged in 1987. . |
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