Search Our Scientific Publications & Authors

Curr Opin Biotechnol 2019 Apr 16;57:127-136. Epub 2019 Apr 16.

Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA. Electronic address:

Nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) pulmonary infections are a growing concern worldwide, with a disproportionate incidence in persons with pre-existing health conditions. NTM have frequently been found in municipally-treated drinking water and building plumbing, leading to the hypothesis that an important source of NTM exposure is drinking water. The identification and quantification of NTM in environmental samples are complicated by genetic variability among NTM species, making it challenging to determine if clinically relevant NTM are present. Read More

J Am Acad Dermatol 2019 Apr 16. Epub 2019 Apr 16.

Department of Dermatology, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, TX.

Background: The incidence of cutaneous nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) infections is increasing. These infections are a diagnostic and therapeutic challenge.

Objective: We aimed to investigate clinical features, diagnosis and management of cutaneous NTM infections. Read More

Emerg Infect Dis 2019 May;25(5):849-855

We investigated a cluster of Mycobacterium fortuitum and M. goodii prosthetic joint surgical site infections occurring during 2010-2014. Cases were defined as culture-positive nontuberculous mycobacteria surgical site infections that had occurred within 1 year of joint replacement surgery performed on or after October 1, 2010. Read More

Molecules 2019 Apr 16;24(8). Epub 2019 Apr 16.

Department of Microbial Chemistry, Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Kitasato University, Tokyo 108-8641, Japan.

complex (MAC) is a serious disease mainly caused by and Although the incidence of MAC infection is increasing worldwide, only a few agents are clinically used, and their therapeutic effects are limited. Therefore, new anti-MAC agents are needed. Approximately 6600 microbial samples were screened for new anti-mycobacterial agents that inhibit the growth of both M. Read More

Rev Soc Bras Med Trop 2019 Apr 11;52:e20180267. Epub 2019 Apr 11.

Departamento de Biologia Médica, Seção de Micobactérias, Laboratório de Saúde Pública Dr. Giovanni Cysneiros, Goiânia, GO, Brasil.

Introduction: The prevalence of hematogenous dissemination of mycobacteria is high in immunosuppressed patients. The isolation of mycobacteria in culture remains the standard procedure.

Methods: This is a cross-sectional study based on the results of solid (Löwenstein-Jensen medium) and semi-automated liquid (BACTEC 9240) blood cultures, obtained from the Lacen-GO database. Read More

Int J Chron Obstruct Pulmon Dis 2019 27;14:719-728. Epub 2019 Mar 27.

Department of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, Changi General Hospital, Singapore,

Background: Assessing risk of future exacerbations is an important component in COPD management. History of exacerbation is a strong and independent predictor of future exacerbations, and the criterion of ≥2 nonhospitalized or ≥1 hospitalized exacerbation is often used to identify high-risk patients in whom therapy should be intensified. However, other factors or "treatable traits" also contribute to risk of exacerbation. Read More

Tuberculosis (Edinb) 2019 Mar 23;116:1-7. Epub 2019 Mar 23.

Section of Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine, Boston Medical Center and Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, MA, USA. Electronic address:

Background: Rapid diagnosis of pulmonary tuberculosis (TB) is critical to TB control. However, many patients with paucibacillary TB disease remain undiagnosed. Current TB elimination goals require new tools to diagnose early disease. Read More

PLoS Med 2019 Apr 12;16(4):e1002780. Epub 2019 Apr 12.

Otsuka Pharmaceutical Development & Commercialization, Rockville, Maryland, United States of America.

Background: Lipoarabinomannan (LAM) is a major antigen of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB). In this report, we evaluated the ability of a novel immunoassay to measure concentrations of LAM in sputum as a biomarker of bacterial load prior to and during treatment in pulmonary tuberculosis (TB) patients.

Methods And Findings: Phage display technology was used to isolate monoclonal antibodies binding to epitopes unique in LAM from MTB and slow-growing nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM). Read More

Sci Rep 2019 Apr 5;9(1):5682. Epub 2019 Apr 5.

Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences, College of Medicine, Taipei Medical University, Taipei, 110, Taiwan.

Interferon (IFN)-γ is crucial for normal immune surveillance and exhibits immunomodulatory, antimicrobial, and anticancer activity. Patients with nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) infection commonly express high levels of anti-IFN-γ autoantibodies (autoAbs) and suffer from recurrent infections due to adult-onset immunodeficiency with defects in IFN-γ immune surveillance. In this study, we developed the methods for determination of anti-IFN-γ autoAbs and then characterized their neutralizing activity in patients with NTM infection. Read More

Am J Ophthalmol 2019 Apr 2. Epub 2019 Apr 2.

Department of Ophthalmology, National Taiwan University Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan. Electronic address:

Purpose: To investigate the demographics, risk factors, microbiology and resistance pattern at a tertiary hospital and to detect the shifting trend over two decades.

Design: A retrospective observational case series.

Methods: We reviewed all records of patients with microbial keratitis (MK) that were hospitalized in National Taiwan University Hospital between 2007 and 2016. Read More

Tuberculosis (Edinb) 2019 03 28;115:96-107. Epub 2019 Feb 28.

Department of Biomedical Research and the Center for Genes, Environment, and Health, National Jewish Health, Denver, CO, USA. Electronic address:

All mycobacteria, including nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM), synthesize an array of lipids including phosphatidylinositol mannosides (PIM), lipomannan (LM), and lipoarabinomannan (LAM). While absent from Mycobacterium tuberculosis (M. tb), glycopeptidolipids (GPL) are critical to the biology of NTM. Read More

Acta Med Port 2019 Mar 29;32(3):208-213. Epub 2019 Mar 29.

Department of Infectious Diseases. Hospital Egas Moniz. Centro Hospitalar de Lisboa Ocidental. Lisbon. Portugal.

Introduction: Non-tuberculous mycobacteria are ubiquitous organisms. Precise determination of infection numbers is difficult, since reporting them to public health departments is frequently not mandatory; furthermore, isolating a non-tuberculous mycobacteria does not necessarily translate into disease. The aims of this study were to ascertain non-tuberculous mycobacteria data of a tertiary hospital, determine the incidence and approach to colonization versus disease, and the incidence of predisposing comorbidities. Read More

J Water Health 2019 Apr;17(2):350-356

Department of Microbiology, School of Medicine, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran E-mail:

Microbiological control of hospital waters as one of the main sources of nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) is important for the prevention of NTM-associated illness. This study aimed to investigate the prevalence of NTM in the hospital water systems of Tehran, Iran. A total of 218 samples from different hospital waters (i. Read More

Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol 2019 Apr 3:1-6. Epub 2019 Apr 3.

Division of Healthcare Quality Promotion,Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,Atlanta, Georgia.

Objective: Water exposures in healthcare settings and during healthcare delivery can place patients at risk for infection with water-related organisms and can potentially lead to outbreaks. We aimed to describe Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) consultations involving water-related organisms leading to healthcare-associated infections (HAIs).

Design: Retrospective observational study. Read More

Chest 2019 Mar 29. Epub 2019 Mar 29.

Centre de Ressources et de Compétences pour la Mucoviscidose, Pneumologie et Allergologie Pédiatriques, Hôpital Necker Enfants Malades, Paris, France. Electronic address:

Background: The cystic fibrosis (CF) pathogen, Mycobacterium abscessus complex, covers three "subspecies": "M. abscessus", "M. massiliense", and "M. Read More

Chin Med J (Engl) 2019 Mar 27. Epub 2019 Mar 27.

Department of Clinical Laboratory, Public Health Clinical Center of Chengdu, Chengdu, Sichuan 610066, China.

Background: Human-immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection is increasing worldwide and nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) is an established microbiologic cause of pulmonary disease, lymphadenitis, and disseminated disease in cases of advanced immune suppression. Data on patients co-infected with HIV and NTM are limited, this study aimed to analyze the clinical characteristics, drug resistance, and pathogen spectrum of patients co-infected with HIV and NTM in the Chengdu area of China to provide a scientific basis for the prevention, control, diagnosis, and treatment of the disease.

Methods: Data of 59 patients co-infected with HIV and NTM collected from the Public Health Clinical Center of Chengdu, between January 2014 and December 2018, were analyzed. Read More

J Med Microbiol 2019 Mar 27. Epub 2019 Mar 27.

1 Department of Microbiology and Parasitology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Rijeka, Rijeka, Croatia.

Objective: The present study evaluated the possible synergistic antimycobacterial interactions of Juniperus communis and Helichrysum italicum essential oils (EO).

Methods: Antimycobacterial potential was tested against Mycobacterium avium and Mycobacterium intracellulare using broth and water dilution method and checkerboard synergy method. Antiadhesion and antibiofilm effect of EOs was evaluated on biotic (HeLa cells) and abiotic surface (polystyrene). Read More

J Trace Elem Med Biol 2019 May 12;53:84-90. Epub 2019 Feb 12.

Department of Laboratory Medicine and Genetics, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea; Department of Clinical Pharmacology & Therapeutics, Samsung Medical Center, Seoul, Republic of Korea. Electronic address:

Nontuberculous mycobacterial (NTM) lung diseases are an emerging cause of pulmonary infection, becoming more common in the clinical setting as incidence of NTM lung diseases steadily increases worldwide. Trace elements are essential micronutrients and are known to play many important roles in infectious diseases. We investigated the concentrations of trace elements in patients with NTM lung disease and compared these values to patients with pulmonary tuberculosis and healthy controls. Read More

Microorganisms 2019 Mar 22;7(3). Epub 2019 Mar 22.

School of Life and Health Sciences, Aston University, Aston Triangle, Birmingham B4 7ET, UK.

Mycobacteria are a large family of over 100 species, most of which do not cause diseases in humans. The majority of the mycobacterial species are referred to as nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM), meaning they are not the causative agent of tuberculous (TB) or leprosy, i.e. Read More

ACS Infect Dis 2019 Apr 4. Epub 2019 Apr 4.

Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences , University of Perugia , via del Liceo 1 , 06123 Perugia , Italy.

Nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) are ubiquitous microbes belonging to the Mycobacterium genus. Among all NTM pathogens, M. avium is one of the most frequent agents causing pulmonary disease, especially in immunocompromised individuals and cystic fibrosis patients. Read More

Euro Surveill 2019 Mar;24(11)

Unit Bacterial Diseases Service, Infectious diseases in Humans, Sciensano, Brussels, Belgium.

IntroductionIn 2007, a new federal legislation in Belgium prohibited non-biosafety level 3 laboratories to process culture tubes suspected of containing mycobacteria.AimTo present mycobacterial surveillance/diagnosis data from the Belgian National Reference Centre for mycobacteria (NRC) from 2007 to 2016.MethodsThis retrospective observational study investigated the numbers of analyses at the NRC and false positive cultures (interpreted as containing mycobacteria at referring clinical laboratories, but with no mycobacterial DNA detected by PCR in the NRC). Read More

J Appl Microbiol 2019 May 20;126(5):1568-1579. Epub 2019 Mar 20.

Region 6, United States Environmental Protection Agency, Dallas, TX, USA.

Aim: Premise plumbing may disseminate the bacteria Legionella pneumophila and Mycobacterium avium, the causative agents for legionellosis and pulmonary nontuberculous mycobacterium disease respectively.

Methods And Results: Using quantitative PCR, the occurrence and persistence of L. pneumophila, L. Read More

Respir Med Case Rep 2019 28;26:307-309. Epub 2019 Feb 28.

Department of Respiratory Medicine, Galway University Hospital, Ireland.

Background: is a rapidly growing nontuberculous mycobacterium which has been associated with several infections including cellulitis, osteomyelitis, lymphadenitis, infected pacemakers and bursitis but it is a rare cause of respiratory infection.

Case Presentation: In this case report we describe a 51-year-old woman who presented with a 6-week history of non-productive cough, pleuritic chest pain and weight loss. She had a history of gastric adenocarcinoma managed with a distal oesophagectomy and total gastrectomy and consequentially suffered severe post-operative gastric reflux. Read More

BMC Microbiol 2019 Mar 19;19(1):62. Epub 2019 Mar 19.

Center for Neuroscience and Cell Biology (CNC), University of Coimbra, 3004-504, Coimbra, Portugal.

Background: Nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) are ubiquitous in nature and recognized agents of opportunistic infection, which is often aggravated by their intrinsic resistance to antimicrobials, poorly defined therapeutic strategies and by the lack of new drugs. However, evaluation of their prevalence in anthropogenic environments and the associated antimicrobial resistance profiles have been neglected. In this work, we sought to determine minimal inhibitory concentrations of 25 antimicrobials against 5 NTM isolates recovered from a tertiary-care hospital surfaces. Read More

Vet Dermatol 2019 Mar 18. Epub 2019 Mar 18.

Institute of Veterinary Bacteriology, Vetsuisse Faculty, University of Zurich, Winterthurerstrasse 270, 8057, Zurich, Switzerland.

Background: Cutaneous disseminated mycobacteriosis is rare in dogs. To the best of the authors' knowledge, the slowly growing mycobacterial species Mycobacterium nebraskense has not been described before in this species.

Objective: Description of clinical features, laboratory analyses and treatment regimen of this unusual case. Read More

Adv Chronic Kidney Dis 2019 Jan;26(1):35-40

Scott & White Medical Center-Temple, Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine, Texas A&M Health Science Center College of Medicine, TX.

Patients with chronic kidney disease have impaired immunity that increases their risk of infection. Increased incidence of mycobacterial infections, in particular Mycobacterium tuberculosis, is described in patients undergoing hemodialysis and peritoneal dialysis as well as after kidney transplantation in low-prevalence and high-prevalence settings. Diagnosis of this infection can be challenging because of atypical presentations that may lead to treatment delay and, consequently, increased mortality; however, recent advances in molecular testing have improved diagnostic accuracy. Read More

Dermatol Online J 2019 Feb 15;25(2). Epub 2019 Feb 15.

Dermatology Department, Centro Hospitalar Lisboa Norte, Hospital de Santa Maria, Lisbon.

Mycobacterium marinum is a nontuberculous mycobacteria with worldwide distribution that lives in fresh or salt water and is responsible for infections in fish, and sometimes in humans. Human disease consists mainly of cutaneous nodules, but deep structure involvement may also occur. Diagnosis of M. Read More

3 Biotech 2019 Apr 6;9(4):127. Epub 2019 Mar 6.

Department of Biotechnology and Bioinformatics, Jaypee University of Information Technology, Waknaghat, Solan, HP 173234 India.

is an important human pathogenic NTM, which resists stress conditions inside macrophages by exploitation of specific genes. TnphoA-based transposon mutagenesis was employed to identify membrane genes responsible for survival of under such stress conditions. A library of about 450 mutants was constructed after electroporation of vector pRT291 into wild-type . Read More

Pulm Med 2019 3;2019:5942783. Epub 2019 Feb 3.

Post-Graduate Program in Medical Sciences, State University of Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Background: Since nontuberculous mycobacterial pulmonary disease (NTM-PD) is a condition with increasing morbidity, a more detailed knowledge of radiological aspects and pulmonary function plays a relevant role in the diagnosis and appropriate therapeutic management of these patients.

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to evaluate changes in lung parenchyma through computed tomography (CT) densitometry and, secondarily, to analyze its correlation with pulmonary function testing (PFT) in patients with NTM-PD.

Methods: This is a cross-sectional study in which 31 patients with NTM-PD and 27 controls matched by sex, age, and body mass index underwent CT pulmonary densitovolumetry and pulmonary function tests including spirometry and body plethysmograph. Read More

Int J Mycobacteriol 2019 Jan-Mar;8(1):93-97

Northern Ireland Public Health Laboratory, Belfast City Hospital, Lisburn Road, Belfast, Northern Ireland, BT9 7AD; School of Medicine, Dentistry and Biomedical Science, Centre for Experimental Medicine, Queen's University, 97 Lisburn Road, Belfast; School of Biomedical Sciences, Ulster University, Cromore Road, Coleraine, Co. Londonderry, Northern Ireland, BT52 1SA, UK.

Background: Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) has now emerged as a global public health crisis. Of particular concern is AMR associated with the genus Mycobacterium, including Mycobacterium tuberculosis and the nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM). Emergence of the NTM, in particular Mycobacterium abscessus, in patients with cystic fibrosis (CF) represents both a diagnostic and a treatment dilemma. Read More

Int J Mycobacteriol 2019 Jan-Mar;8(1):7-21

Department of Bacteriology, Northern Ireland Public Health Laboratory, Belfast City Hospital; Centre for Experimental Medicine, Queen's University; School of Biomedical Sciences, Ulster University, Northern Ireland, UK.

The nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) have recently emerged as important bacterial pathogens of both animals and humans. Of particular, concern is the high level of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) displayed by these organisms, which complicates treatment and potential successful outcomes. This review, therefore, wishes to examine novel compounds and approaches to combatting AMR in the NTMs, specifically examining antimycobacterial (NTM) compounds from plants and venoms, as well as examining synergistic and combination effects with other antimicrobials. Read More

Int J Mycobacteriol 2019 Jan-Mar;8(1):1-6

Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care, Miller School of Medicine, University of Miami, Miami, FL, USA.

Epidemiological data show a worldwide increase in nontuberculous mycobacteriosis. Although it has been partially attributed to the improvement of microbiological methodologies that has allowed a better recovery and identification of nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM), it is generally accepted that there is a genuine incidence augmentation. The reasons of the increase are likely multifactorial, depending on the nature of the pathogen, the host, and their interaction. Read More

Front Immunol 2019 19;10:234. Epub 2019 Feb 19.

Division of Infectious Diseases, Allergy and Immunology, Department of Internal Medicine, Saint Louis University, St. Louis, MO, United States.

Pulmonary non-tuberculous mycobacterial (NTM) infections particularly caused by complex (MAC) and (MAB) are becoming major health problems in the U.S. New therapies or vaccines which will help prevent the disease, shorten treatment duration and/or increase treatment success rates are urgently needed. Read More

Lancet 2019 03;393(10174):918

Department of Infectious Diseases, Fundación Clínica Médica Sur and Instituto Nacional de Ciencias Médicas y Nutrición Salvador Zubirán, Mexico City, Mexico. Electronic address:

BMC Cardiovasc Disord 2019 Mar 5;19(1):53. Epub 2019 Mar 5.

Department of Cardiology, Huashan Hospital of Fudan University, 12 Wulumuqi Zhong Road, Shanghai, 200040, China.

Background: With the rising utilization of cardiovascular implantable electronic devices (CIEDs), infections secondary to device implantation are increasingly encountered. Staphylococcus aureus and coagulase-negative staphylococci are usually the predominant causative organisms. A CIED infection due to non-tuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) is extremely rare. Read More

Eur J Clin Microbiol Infect Dis 2019 Mar 5. Epub 2019 Mar 5.

Department of Health Sciences, University of Florence, Anna Meyer Children's University Hospital, viale Pieraccini 24, I-50139, Florence, Italy.

Nontuberculous mycobacteria are the most frequent cause of chronic cervical lymphadenitis in childhood. The aim of the study was to evaluate the performance of IL-2, IL-17, and INF-γ in-house enzyme-linked immunospot assays using a Mycobacterium avium lysate, in order to identify a noninvasive diagnostic method of nontuberculous mycobacteria infection. Children with subacute and chronic lymphadenopathies or with a previous diagnosis of nontuberculous mycobacteria lymphadenitis were prospectively enrolled in the study. Read More

Aging Cell 2019 Mar 4:e12926. Epub 2019 Mar 4.

Department of Microbial Infection and Immunity, College of Medicine, The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, Columbus, Ohio.

Biological aging dynamically alters normal immune and cardiac function, favoring the production of pro-inflammatory cytokines (IL-1β, IL-6, and TNF-α) and increased instances of cardiac distress. Cardiac failure is the primary reason for hospitalization of the elderly (65+ years). The elderly are also increasingly susceptible to developing chronic bacterial infections due to aging associated immune abnormalities. Read More

Respir Med 2019 Mar 30;148:37-42. Epub 2019 Jan 30.

Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Department of Medicine, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, South Korea. Electronic address:

Background: Mycobacterium kansasii is a major pathogen associated with nontuberculous mycobacterial pulmonary disease. For treatment of M. kansasii pulmonary disease, daily therapy with isoniazid, rifampin, and ethambutol is traditionally recommended. Read More

BMC Infect Dis 2019 Feb 28;19(1):203. Epub 2019 Feb 28.

Department of infectious disease, Wuming Hospital of Guangxi Medical University, Nanning, China.

Background: Nontuberculous mycobacterial (NTM) disease is commonly an opportunistic infection frequently found in immunocompromised individuals, but sometimes can also be found in the immunocompetent hosts, especially in East Asians. The NTM separation rate in China is increasing, which reminds us to focus on NTM infections in immunocompromised populations.

Case Presentation: A 43-year-old woman with a recurrent fever for more than 8-month and a right forehead surgical wounds unhealed for more than 6-month was admitted to our hospital on February 22, 2018. Read More

PLoS Pathog 2019 02 28;15(2):e1007329. Epub 2019 Feb 28.

Institute of Biology Leiden, Leiden University, Leiden, The Netherlands.

Mycobacterial pathogens are the causative agents of chronic infectious diseases like tuberculosis and leprosy. Autophagy has recently emerged as an innate mechanism for defense against these intracellular pathogens. In vitro studies have shown that mycobacteria escaping from phagosomes into the cytosol are ubiquitinated and targeted by selective autophagy receptors. Read More

Cell Physiol Biochem 2019 28;52(2):263-279. Epub 2019 Feb 28.

Department of Cellular and Molecular Biology, The University of Texas Health Science Center at Tyler, Tyler, TX, USA,

Background/aims: The nontuberculous mycobacterial lung disease (NTM), caused by Mycobacterium avium complex (MAC) is an increasing health problem in the USA and worldwide. The NTM disease is prevalent in Caucasian women with a current diagnosis or history of breast cancer (BCa), posing a significant challenge towards treatment. We hypothesize that NTM affected women with considerable therapeutic resistance may harbor pathogenic microbes other than nontuberculous mycobacterium, aiding in disease progression and therapeutic resistance. Read More

J Card Surg 2019 Apr 28;34(4):205-207. Epub 2019 Feb 28.

Department of Cardiovascular Surgery, Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka University, Suita, Japan.

Mediastinitis is one of the life-threating complications that can occur after cardiac surgery. However, to the best of our knowledge, there has been no report of mediastinitis caused by Mycobacterium chelonae, which is one of the rapidly growing nontuberculous mycobacteria species. As far as we know, our case is the first case describing the curative management for mediastinitis caused by M. Read More

Int J Antimicrob Agents 2019 Feb 23. Epub 2019 Feb 23.

Department of Microbiology and Immunology, School of Medicine, Soonchunhyang University, Cheonan, Chungnam, 31151, Korea; Regional Innovation Center, Soonchunhyang University, Asan, Chungnam, 31538, Korea. Electronic address:

Due to the emergence of multi-drug resistant (MDR) and extensively drug-resistant (XDR) Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB), new anti-tuberculosis drugs are urgently needed to improve the efficiency of current tuberculosis treatment. To achieve this goal, we screened approximately 1000 chemical compounds for potential anti-mycobacterial activity. Among them, methyl 5-(2-diethylaminoethoxy)-7,12-dioxo-7,12 dihydrodinaphtho[1,2-b;2',3'-d] furan-6-carboxylate (DNF-3) showed strong activity against all the tested drug-susceptible and drug-resistant strains of MTB, with 50% minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) of 0. Read More

AJR Am J Roentgenol 2019 Feb 26:1-8. Epub 2019 Feb 26.

2 Department of Medicine, Division of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.

Objective: We aimed to explore proportion, involved organisms, and serial CT features of nodular bronchiectatic (NB) Mycobacterium avium complex (MAC) pulmonary diseases that manifested as unilateral lung disease.

Materials And Methods: We retrospectively identified 674 patients with NB MAC pulmonary disease (PD) who underwent serial CT studies from January 2005 through December 2012. We selected patients with unilateral lung involvement as its initial manifestation. Read More

PLoS Negl Trop Dis 2019 02 21;13(2):e0006745. Epub 2019 Feb 21.

College of Public Health, Medical and Veterinary Sciences, James Cook University, Smithfield, Australia, Australian Institute of Tropical Health and Medicine (AITHM), James Cook University, Smithfield, Australia.

Mycobacterium ulcerans is the causative agent of Buruli ulcer (BU). This nontuberculous mycobacterial infection has been reported in 34 countries worldwide. In Australia, the majority of cases of BU have been recorded in coastal Victoria and the Mossman-Daintree areas of north Queensland. Read More

Emerg Infect Dis 2019 Mar;25(3):569-572

The prevalence and incidence of nontuberculous mycobacterial (NTM) infections increased in South Korea from 2007 to 2016. Annual prevalence of NTM infection increased to 39.6 cases/100,000 population in 2016 and annual incidence to 19. Read More

Emerg Infect Dis 2019 Mar;25(3):559-563

A surgical heater-cooler unit has been implicated as the source for Mycobacterium chimaera infections among cardiac surgery patients in several countries. We isolated M. chimaera from heater-cooler units and patient infections in the United States. Read More

Emerg Infect Dis 2019 Mar;25(3):473-481

Attention to environmental sources of Mycobacterium avium complex (MAC) infection is a vital component of disease prevention and control. We investigated MAC colonization of household plumbing in suburban Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. We used variable-number tandem-repeat genotyping and whole-genome sequencing with core genome single-nucleotide variant analysis to compare M. Read More

Methodist Debakey Cardiovasc J 2018 Oct-Dec;14(4):301-302

LAHEY HOSPITAL & MEDICAL CENTER, BURLINGTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

Mycobacterium chimaera (M. chimaera) is a slow-growing nontuberculous mycobacteria usually associated with pulmonary infection in immunocompromised patients. Attributed to a specific brand of contaminated heater-cooler units used during cardiac surgery, M. Read More