Occurrence and clinical relevance of Mycobacterium chimaera sp. nov., Germany

Birgitta Schweickert; Oliver Goldenberg; Elvira Richter; Ulf B Göbel; Annette Petrich; Petra Buchholz; Annette Moter

doi:10.3201/eid1409.071032

Occurrence and clinical relevance of Mycobacterium chimaera sp. nov., Germany

Emerg Infect Dis. 2008 Sep;14(9):1443-6. doi: 10.3201/eid1409.071032.

Authors

Birgitta Schweickert¹, Oliver Goldenberg, Elvira Richter, Ulf B Göbel, Annette Petrich, Petra Buchholz, Annette Moter

Affiliation

¹ Institut für Mikrobiologie und Hygiene, Charité-Universitätsmedizin, Berlin, Germany. birgitta.schweickert@charite.de

Abstract

Retrospective molecular genetic analysis of 166 Mycobacterium intracellulare isolates showed that 143 (86%) strains could be assigned to Mycobacterium chimaera sp. nov. Of 97 patients from whom M. chimaera sp. nov. was isolated, only 3.3% exhibited mycobacterial lung disease, whereas all M. intracellulare isolates caused severe pulmonary infections.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Germany / epidemiology
Humans
Lung Diseases / epidemiology
Lung Diseases / microbiology
Mycobacterium / classification*
Mycobacterium Infections / epidemiology
Mycobacterium Infections / microbiology*