Official websites use .gov
A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.

Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
A lock ( ) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

Testing for Tuberculosis

Fact Sheet
Testing for Tuberculosis

This fact sheet discusses TB testing for health care workers, people at high risk, and people with latent TB infection or active TB disease. This fact sheet is also available in Spanish.

Author:

CDC NCHHSTP Division of Tuberculosis Elimination, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), National Center for HIV/AIDS Viral Hepatitis STD and TB Prevention, Division of Tuberculosis Elimination

Audiences:

Infection Control and Occupational Health Workers

Topic:

Diagnosis, Infection Control, Workplace Settings

Country of Origin:

United States

View Webpage

Related Materials

Testing for Tuberculosis (TB)

In a question and answer format, this information sheet discusses testing for tuberculosis (TB). There are two kinds of tests that are used to determine if a person has been infected with TB bacteria: the tuberculin skin test (TST) and TB blood tests. It explains these two kinds of tests in detail: what is a TST, how does the TST work, what does a positive TST result mean, and who can receive a TST, what is an Interferon Gamma Release Assay (IGRA), how does the IGRA work, what does a positive IGRA result mean, who can receive an IGRA, how often can it be given, and who should get tested for TB. The sheet concludes with how to choose a TB test and how the diagnosis of latent TB infection or TB disease is made.

Information Sheet

Testing for Tuberculosis (TB)

A fact sheet describing the tuberculin skin test and Interferon Gamma Release Assay (IGRA) and what a positive test result means.

Fact Sheet

Tuberculosis Skin Test Training

An educational video and presentation intended to train health care providers to perform Tuberculin skin testing.

Video

Global resources for the prevention,
management, and elimination of TB.