Epidemiology of nontuberculous mycobacteria among patients with cystic fibrosis in Scandinavia

Qvist, Tavs
Gilljam, Marita
Jönsson, Bodil
Taylor-Robinson, David
Jensen-Fangel, Søren
Wang, Mikala
Svahn, Anita
Kötz, Karsten
Hansson, Lennart
Hollsing, Annika
Hansen, Christine R.
Finstad, Pål L.
Pressler, Tania
Høiby, Niels
Katzenstein, Terese L.

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Publication date

January 2015

DOI

10.1016/j.jcf.2014.08.002

Publisher

The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Abstract

AbstractBackgroundNontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) are an emerging threat to cystic fibrosis (CF) patients but their epidemiology is not well described.MethodsIn this retrospective observational study we identified all Scandinavian CF patients with a positive NTM culture from airway secretions from 2000 to the end of 2012 and used national CF databases to describe microbiological and clinical characteristics.ResultsDuring the 13-year period 157 (11%) CF patients were culture positive for NTM at least once. Mycobacterium abscessus complex (MABSC) (45%) and Mycobacterium avium complex (MAC) (32%) were the predominant species with geographical differences in distribution. Younger patients were more prone to MABSC (p<0.01). Despite treatment, ...