Pseudoepidemic of Nontuberculous Mycobacteria in a Community Hospital

Abstract

Soon after our hospital instituted the BACTEC mycobacterial isolation system, the proportion of cultures positive for nontuberculous mycobacteria increased dramatically. After eliminating other possible sources of contamination, the BACTEC probe's sterilization time and temperature were increased, and the incidence of positive mycobacterial cultures returned to its former rate.

First isolation of Mycobacterium setense from hospital water

“…In recent years, nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) have emerged as an important cause of opportunistic nosocomial infections and pseudo-infections [1][2][3][4]. Mycobacterium setense (M. setense) is an emerging organism of the Mycobacterium fortuitum (M. fortuitum) group that was added to the growing list of rapidly growing mycobacteria isolated from humans in 2008.…”