COMPARATIVE-STUDY OF TUBERCULOUS AND OTHER MYCOBACTERIAL INFECTIONS AND THEIR ASSOCIATIONS WITH MALIGNANCY

Abstract

Cases (162) of bacteriologically proved mycobacterial disease were reviewed. Nontuberculous acid-fast bacilli were responsible for 27% of the [human] infections, a higher frequency than was previously reported, and Mycobacterium kansasii and M. avium-intracellulare were isolated with equal frequency. M. avium-intracellulare may be a significant agent of disease in the Midwest and the Southeast [USA]. There was no useful clinical, radiographic or laboratory features to distinguish between tuberculous and other mycobacterial infections. Mycobacteria act as opportunistic pathogens in persons with malignant diseases. The attack rate was 607 of 100,000 persons vs. 95 of 100,000 persons in 1 general hospital population. M. tuberculosis and the nontuberculous mycobacteria were of equal virulence in this regard.