GERMANTOWN, Md. & HILDEN, Germany--(BUSINESS WIRE)--QIAGEN today welcomed the First Edition of the World Health Organization’s (WHO) Essential Diagnostics List, which endorses the use of interferon gamma release assays (IGRAs) for the diagnosis of latent TB infection. The inclusion on the list comes as the WHO and other organizations like the US Centers for Disease Control (CDC), the International Panel Physicians Association (IPPA) and others have recommended to include IGRA’s such as QuantiFERON-TB Gold Plus.

The World Health Organization (WHO) published the first edition of the Model List of Essential In Vitro Diagnostics (EDL) in May 2018, in recognition that IVDs are an essential component to advance universal health coverage, address health emergencies, and promote healthier populations. The EDL outlines 113 IVDs that are recommended by WHO for use at various levels of a tiered national health care system.

QuantiFERON-TB Gold (QFT) is one of two recommended tests in the WHO guidelines as an alternative to tuberculin skin tests. The latest generation of QFT is QFT-Plus and is available in more than 75 countries in Europe, the Americas, Africa, Asia and Middle East. QFT-Plus, first introduced in 2015, builds on the foundation of QIAGEN’s QuantiFERON-TB Gold (QFT). QFT-Plus advances the science of TB testing with innovative antigens that measure the cell-mediated immune response to tuberculosis infection from both CD4+ and CD8+ T cells. The addition of CD8+ assessment has led WHO in its Global TB Report 2016 to cite QFT-Plus (the only such test on the market) for its potential in identifying at-risk adults at greater risk of progressing to active TB.

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To learn more about QFT-Plus, QFT and tuberculosis control, please visit www.quantiferon.com.