Document 0698
 DOCN  M95A0698
 TI    Anergy tests draw strong reaction from experts. 
 DT    9510
 SO    AIDS Alert. 1995 Apr;10(4):47-9. Unique Identifier : AIDSLINE
       AIDS/95700223
 AB    After growing controversy about the usefulness and effectiveness of
       anergy testing, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) may
       change its four-year-old recommendation that all HIV-positive people at
       risk for Tuberculosis (TB) be tested for anergy at the time of their TB
       skin test. Anergy, a condition in which immunosuppressed people cannot
       mount a reaction to a PPD (purified protein derivative) skin test, is
       common in HIV-positive patients. Although anergy testing has been common
       practice, an unpublished study from the Johns Hopkins University in
       Baltimore suggests that anergy testing is not an accurate diagnosis for
       infection. As a result, health officials are revising recommendations to
       underscore the controversy. Earlier this year, the CDC's Advisory
       Council for the Elimination of Tuberculosis (ACET) revised its
       guidelines on TB screening in high risk populations, stating that the
       scientific basis for anergy testing is tenuous and is generally not part
       of screening for TB infection. However, those at high risk for TB may be
       evaluated for anergy, taking into account that anergy practices are not
       well standardized. The Hopkins study found high rates of change in
       anergy status in both seropositive and seronegative groups although they
       found that anergy did tend to stabilize in HIV-positive patients with
       CD4 counts below 350.
 DE    Cohort Studies  HIV Infections/*COMPLICATIONS  Human  Hypersensitivity,
       Delayed/IMMUNOLOGY  Substance Abuse, Intravenous/COMPLICATIONS
       Tuberculin Test/STANDARDS/*UTILIZATION
       Tuberculosis/*DIAGNOSIS/PREVENTION & CONTROL  NEWSLETTER ARTICLE

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       protected by Copyright Law (Title 17, U.S.Code).