Volume 14, Number 9—September 2008
Dispatch
Occurrence and Clinical Relevance of Mycobacterium chimaera sp. nov., Germany
Birgitta Schweickert
, Oliver Goldenberg, Elvira Richter, Ulf B. Göbel, Annette Petrich, Petra Buchholz, and Annette Moter
, Oliver Goldenberg, Elvira Richter, Ulf B. Göbel, Annette Petrich, Petra Buchholz, and Annette MoterTable 2
Distribution of MAC isolates according to ATS criteria*
| Mycobacterial species, sequevars† | Total no. (%) | Clinically relevant,‡ no. (%) | Clinically not relevant,§ no. (%) | Clinical relevance undetermined,¶ no. (%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| MAC | ||||
| MAC-A | 90 (100) | 3 (3.3) | 82 (91.1) | 5 (5.6) |
| MAC-C | 1 (100) | 0 | 1 (100) | 0 |
| MAC-E |
1 (100) |
0 |
1 (100) |
0 |
| Min | ||||
| Min-A | 3 (100) | 3 (100) | 0 | 0 |
| Min-C |
2 (100) |
0 |
2 (100) |
0 |
| Total | 97 (100) | 6 (6.2) | 86 (88.7) | 5 (5.2) |
*ATS, American Thoracic Society; MAC, Mycobacterium avium complex; MAC-A, M. chimaera sp. nov.; Min, M. intracellulare. Min-A, M. intracellulare type strain.
†Classification of MAC strains according to the taxonomy of Frothingham and Wilson (3).
‡ATS criteria (13) for mycobacterial lung disease are fulfilled.
§ATS criteria for mycobacterial lung disease are not fulfilled.
¶ATS criteria for mycobacterial lung disease are fulfilled, but radiologic findings have been attributed to the underlying illness or insufficient sample numbers.
