Cutaneous Infection with Atypical Mycobacterium

Adjunctive Surgical Management of Cutaneous Mycobacterium Fortuitum Infection

“…Animal‐inflicted injuries such as dog bites and cow kicks have also been reported to cause these infections. 8–10 Our patient's lesion occurred on the face with no history of trauma, but as the incubation period of these infections may exceed 1 year, it is possible that our patient may have forgotten the inciting injury.…”

“…It is a free‐living ubiquitous organism and may be found almost everywhere in the environment including water, soil, and dust 6–8 . Characteristics of Mycobacterium fortuitum include: the ability to produce good growth from minimal inoc‐ula on egg media at 28°C within 7 days; being acid fast, nonpigmented, arylsulfatase positive at 3 days; growing on MacConkey's agar without crystal violet at 28°C; and exhibiting positive nitrate reduction and iron uptake 2, 9, 10 . The organism is nonvir‐ulent for guinea pigs, while producing disease in mice 9, 10 …”

“…For more severe and extensive disease, total excision is necessary 1 . In general, the fast‐growing my‐cobacteria are resistant to the usual antituberculous medications 3, 9 . Studies have demonstrated amika‐cin and cefoxitin to be the most effective chemo‐therapeutic agents, while doxycyclines and sulfon‐amides are occasionally effective 13–15 .…”

Primary Isolation Of Mycobacterium chelonei Subspecies abscessus from Pus Inoculated into Peptone Broth

“…The first report of infection with M. abscessus described isolation on Sabouraud glucose agar (11). In another case a mycobacterium from a subcutaneous abscess was isolated on "cycloheximide media for fungi" at room temperature (4). An organism identified as M. chelonei grew out as tiny white colonies on blood agar 4 days after direct inoculation of pus from an injection abscess (3).…”

The History of Cutaneous Tuberculosis

“…Pinner'^ in 1935 designated the term atypical to a type of mycobacterium which was later called anonymous, unclassified'â nd MOTT (Mycobacteria other than tuberculosis). 'Ĉ utaneous tuberculosis caused by atypical mycobacteria was reported by Brock et al'^ in 1960. immunoiogy Immunological studies began with Robert Koch'^ who first cultured the tubercle bacillus over a hundred years ago. A glycerine extract of a pure culture of tubercle bacilli was first used and highly recommended by him as a remedy for all types of tuberculosis.…”