Clinical and epidemiological characteristics of nontuberculous mycobacteria pulmonary infections in the healthcare area of Virgen del Rocío University Hospital in Seville (2020-2023).

OBJECTIVE

To analyse the characteristics of nontuberculous mycobacteria(NTM) cases with ATS-IDSA criteria from respiratory samples in the healthcare area of Virgen del Rocío University Hospital (VRUH).

METHODS

A prospective descriptive analysis was conducted including a total of 77 patients from the HUVR healthcare area who met ATS/IDSA criteria and had respiratory isolates of NTM between January 2020 and November 2023.

RESULTS

NTM were isolated in a total of 367 patients, of whom 77 (20.98%) met the IDSA/ATS criteria. The most useful diagnostic respiratory sample was sputum (84.3%). The most frequently isolated species was Mycobacterium intracellulare (n = 26 [33.76%]), followed by Mycobacterium avium (n = 17 [22.07%]). In this series, 21 patients had COPD (27.27%).

CONCLUSIONS

In our setting, the most common species is M. intracellulare. The typical patient profile is a woman with non-cystic fibrosis bronchiectasis. However, we have detected 21 cases of COPD with NTM, which makes it necessary to continue studying this group in the future.