Emerging infectious diseases
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Emerging Infect. Dis. · Mar 2011
Nontuberculous mycobacteria from household plumbing of patients with nontuberculous mycobacteria disease.
To determine whether plumbing could be a source of nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) infection, during 2007-2009 I isolated NTM from samples from household water systems of NTM patients. Samples from 22/37 (59%) households and 109/394 (28%) total samples yielded NTM. ⋯ Households with water heater temperatures ≤125 degrees C (≤50 degrees C) were significantly more likely to harbor NTM compared with households with hot water temperatures ≥130 degrees F (≥55 degrees C) (p = 0.0107). Although households with water from public or private water systems serving multiple households were more likely to have NTM (19/27, 70%) compared with households with a well providing water to only 1 household (5/12, 42%), that difference was not significant (p = 0.1532).
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Emerging Infect. Dis. · Mar 2011
ReviewNontuberculous mycobacteria in respiratory tract infections, eastern Asia.
To characterize the distribution of nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) species isolated from pulmonary samples from persons in Asia and their association with pulmonary infections, we reviewed the literature. Mycobacterium avium complex bacteria were most frequently isolated (13%-81%) and were the most common cause of pulmonary NTM disease (43%-81%). Also pathogenic were rapidly growing mycobacteria (M. chelonae, M. fortuitum, M. abscessus). ⋯ Most patients were male (79%) and had a history of tuberculosis (37%). In Asia, high prevalence of rapidly growing mycobacteria and a history of tuberculosis are distinct characteristics of pulmonary NTM disease. This geographic variation is not well reflected in the American Thoracic Society criteria for NTM infections and could be incorporated in future guidelines.
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Emerging Infect. Dis. · Mar 2011
Laboratory-based surveillance of extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis, China.
To estimate the prevalence of extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis (XDR TB) in China, we retrospectively analyzed drug-resistance profiles of 989 clinical Mycobacterium tuberculosis isolates. We found 319 (32.3%) isolates resistant to ≥1 first-line drugs; 107 (10.8%) isolates were multidrug resistant, of which 20 (18.7%) were XDR. XDR TB is of major concern in China.