Mycobacterium tuberculosis and Mycobacterium leprae have remained, for many years, the primary species of the genus Mycobacterium of clinical and microbiological interest. The other members of the genus, referred to as nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM), have long been underinvestigated. In the last decades, however, the number of reports linking various NTM species with human diseases has stead...

The prevalence of nontuberculous mycobacteria infection (NTM) in Sub-Saharan Africa is estimated to be less than 1%. NTM is often underdiagnosed or misdiagnosed as tuberculosis in patients who present with immune reconstitution syndrome (IRS) following initiation of antiretroviral treatment (ART). Immune reconstitution syndrome is common in patients who start ART with low CD4 counts and high HI...

4. Wang HY, Li Y, Xu AQ, Zhang Y, Tao ZX, Liu GF, et al. Identifi cation and phylogenic analysis of Coxsackie-virus B5 during an outbreak of aseptic meningitis in Shandong [in Chinese]. Zhonghua Liu Xing Bing Xue Za Zhi. 2010;31:64–8. 5. Lukashev AN. Role of recombination in evolution of enteroviruses. Rev Med Virol. 2005;15:157–67. http://dx.doi. org/10.1002/rmv.457 6. Oberste MS, Penaranda S,...

INTRODUCTION The early diagnosis of mycobacterial infections is a critical step for initiating treatment and curing the patient. Molecular analytical methods have led to considerable improvements in the speed and accuracy of mycobacteria detection. METHODS The purpose of this study was to evaluate a multiplex polymerase chain reaction system using mycobacterial strains as an auxiliary tool in...

A total of 1,830 specimens (75.7% respiratory and 24.3% nonrespiratory) were cultured in parallel with the MB/BacT and BACTEC 460 TB systems and on Lowenstein-Jensen (LJ) medium. Mycobacteria were identified from 173 (6.5%) specimens. The most common species recovered were Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex (65. 9%), Mycobacterium avium complex (22.5%), and Mycobacterium chelonae (9.2%). The re...

The incidence of nontuberculous mycobacterial pulmonary disease (NTMPD) is increasing worldwide. Secondary spontaneous pneumothorax occurs as a complication of underlying lung disease and is associated with higher morbidity, mortality, and recurrence than primary spontaneous pneumothorax. We here investigated the clinical features and long-term outcomes of pneumothorax associated with NTMPD.We ...