Clinical Characteristics and Treatment Outcomes for Patients Infected with Mycobacterium haemophilum

• Published in: Emerging infectious diseases Vol. 25; no. 9; pp. 1648 - 1652
• Main Authors: Nookeu, Pornboonya, Angkasekwinai, Nasikarn, Foongladda, Suporn, Phoompoung, Pakpoom
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States U.S. National Center for Infectious Diseases 01.09.2019; Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
• Subjects: Adult; Aged; Anti-Bacterial Agents - therapeutic use; bacteria; Care and treatment; Central nervous system; clinical characteristics; Clinical Characteristics and Treatment Outcomes for Patients Infected with; Cohort Studies; Comorbidity; Eye diseases; Female; HIV; HIV Infections; HIV patients; Humans; Immunocompromised Host; Male; Medical research; Middle Aged; Mycobacterium haemophilum; Mycobacterium haemophilum - isolation & purification; Mycobacterium Infections - drug therapy; nontuberculous mycobacterium; Patient outcomes; Retrospective Studies; Rifampin; Skin; Thailand; Treatment Outcome; treatment outcomes; tuberculosis and other mycobacteria; Thailand; Bangkok; infection; Mycobacterium haemophilum; bacteria; treatment outcomes; tuberculosis and other mycobacteria; nontuberculous mycobacteria; Thailand; clinical characteristics
• ISSN: 1080-6040; 1080-6059
• DOI: 10.3201/eid2509.190430

Mycobacterium haemophilum is a nontuberculous mycobacterium that can infect immunocompromised patients. Because of special conditions required for its culture, this bacterium is rarely reported and there are scarce data for long-term outcomes. We conducted a retrospective study at Siriraj Hospital, Bangkok, Thailand, during January 2012-September 2017. We studied 21 patients for which HIV infection was the most common concurrent condition. The most common organ involvement was skin and soft tissue (60%). Combination therapy with macrolides and fluoroquinolones resulted in a 60% cure rate for cutaneous infection; adding rifampin as a third drug for more severe cases resulted in modest (66%) cure rate. Efficacy of medical therapy in cutaneous, musculoskeletal, and ocular diseases was 80%, 50%, and 50%, respectively. All patients with central nervous system involvement showed treatment failures. Infections with M. haemophilum in HIV-infected patients were more likely to have central nervous system involvement and tended to have disseminated infections and less favorable outcomes.