Table 1.
The demographic characteristics of the total study population:
| Groups | TB | LTBI | HC | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Description | 1. clinical symptom of pulmonary TB | 1. very close TB contacts recently that live together | 1. healthy, BCG-vaccinated controls; | |
| 2. positive acid-fast bacilli in sputum smears or positive mycobacteria culturing or a suggestive chest X-ray | with TB patient 2. positive of T SPOT. TB test |
2. no prior M.TB contact or exposure | ||
| 3. (for T-cell tests only ) received DOTS therapy less then 1 month | 3. no clinical symptom, nor abnormal chest radiograph | |||
| Humoral response study | No. of subjects | 117 | 45 | 67 |
| Mean age (yr) | 46.4 | 45.1 | 34.9 | |
| Range of age (yr) | 6-84 | 16-76 | 21-68 | |
| Male/female | 85/32 | 13/32 | 32/35 | |
| Cellular response study | No. of subjects | 56 | 20 | 30 |
| Mean age (yr) | 46.5 | 43.6 | 29.6 | |
| Range of age (yr) | 11-81 | 23-74 | 21-58 | |
| Male/female | 35/21 | 4/16 | 13/17 | |