Latent Tuberculosis - Tuberculin Skin Testing

Tuberculin Skin Testing

The tuberculin skin test has its origins in the late 19th century. Crudely speaking, tuberculin (also called purified protein derivative or PPD) is a standardised killed extract of cultured TB, injected into the skin to measure the person's immune response to TB. Historically, there have been three methods of tuberculin testing: the Mantoux test, the Heaf test, and the Tine test. The Heaf test was discontinued in 2005 because the manufacturer deemed its production to be financially unsustainable. The Heaf test was preferred in the UK because it requires less training to administer and because there is less interobserver variation in its interpretation.