BACKGROUND According to the 2007 American Thoracic Society/Infectious Diseases Society of America statement on nontuberculous mycobacterial diseases, more evidence for the benefits of adjuvant nontuberculous mycobacterial lung disease surgical intervention is needed before its wide application can be recommended. METHODS A retrospective review was conducted of 60 consecutive patients who met ...

During an ongoing epizootic of mycobacteriosis, wild striped bass Morone saxatilis from Chesapeake Bay were analyzed using 3 methods for detection of either mycobacterial infection or associated granulomatous pathology. The specific detection techniques, which utilized aseptically collected splenic tissue, were histology, quantitative culture and nested PCR. Based on analysis of 118 samples, de...

Infections caused by non-tuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) is increasing wordwide. Due to the difference in treatment of NTM infections and tuberculosis, rapid species identification of mycobacterial clinical isolates is necessary for the effective management of mycobacterial diseases treatment and their control strategy. In this study, a cost-effective technique, real-time PCR coupled with high-r...

The mycobacterial cell envelope is characterized by the presence of a highly impermeable second membrane, which is composed of mycolic acids intercalated with different unusual free lipids, such as lipooligosaccharides (LOS). Transport across this cell envelope requires a dedicated secretion system for extracellular proteins, such as PE_PGRS proteins, which are specific mycobacterial proteins w...

Patients with rheumatic disease are at risk of opportunistic infections as a result of immunosuppressive therapy and the underlying disease. These infections (including mycobacterial infections) can present in unusual ways, mimic disease exacerbations and pose a diagnostic and therapeutic challenge to physicians. We describe 3 patients who presented with soft tissue mycobacterial infection to o...

Objective—To determine the sensitivity of diVerential avian and human delayedtype hypersensitivity skin testing in the diagnosis of non-tuberculous mycobacterial lymphadenitis. Method—Retrospective review of all patients with culture proved nontuberculous mycobacterial lymph node infections who also had diVerential avian and human skin testing performed over a 10 year period from 1986 to 1996. ...

Prophylactic vaccination against tuberculosis (TB) with a live attenuated strain of Mycobacterium bovis bacille Calmette-Guérin (BCG) has been used worldwide. However, TB remains one of the most significant diseases of humans and animals. Better understanding of the mechanisms of human immunity to mycobacteria is essential for the development of new vaccines and the estimation of their efficacy...

OBJECTIVE To identify predictors of the receipt of medical care, including the receipt of pre-drug screening, for diagnostically targeted fungal or mycobacterial infections among patients prescribed a tumor necrosis factor inhibitor (TNFi). METHODS We conducted a case-control study using deidentified patient health claims information from a data set representing a commercially insured US popu...