Diagnostic delay of pulmonary nontuberculous mycobacterial infection in China

Hui Jing; Wanming Tan; Yunfeng Deng; Dachuan Gao; Liang Li; Zhiming Lu; Edward A. Graviss; Xin Ma

doi:10.4081/mrm.2014.383

Diagnostic delay of pulmonary nontuberculous mycobacterial infection in China

Authors

Hui Jing Katharine Hsu International Research Center of Human Infectious Diseases, Shandong Provincial Chest Hospital, Shandong University, Jinan, Shandong
Wanming Tan Katharine Hsu International Research Center of Human Infectious Diseases, Shandong Provincial Chest Hospital, Shandong University, Jinan, Shandong
Yunfeng Deng Katharine Hsu International Research Center of Human Infectious Diseases, Shandong Provincial Chest Hospital, Shandong University, Jinan, Shandong
Dachuan Gao Katharine Hsu International Research Center of Human Infectious Diseases, Shandong Provincial Chest Hospital, Shandong University, Jinan, Shandong
Liang Li Clinical Center on TB, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Beijing
Zhiming Lu Department of Laboratory Medicine, Shandong Provincial Hospital, Jinan, Shandong
Edward A. Graviss The Center for Molecular and Translational Human Infectious Diseases Research, Houston Methodist Hospital Research Institute, Houston, TX
Xin Ma The Center for Molecular and Translational Human Infectious Diseases Research, Houston Methodist Hospital Research Institute, Houston, TX

DOI: https://doi.org/10.4081/mrm.2014.383

Keywords:

China, Infection, Nontuberculous mycobacterium

Abstract

Background: Nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) infection is an emerging, but neglected public health concern in China.

Findings: To investigate diagnostic delay of NTM diseases in China, we analyzed 91 patients with pulmonary NTM infection in Shandong Province. The median diagnostic delay time of the analyzed patients was 84 days, which was significantly associated with rural inhabitance (135 days vs. 73 days of urban inhabitance, p < 0.01) and lower level of first visiting hospitals/clinics (70 and 82 days of tertiary and secondary hospitals/clinics respectively vs. 120 days of primary hospitals/clinics, p < 0.05). M. farcinogenes was isolated from a 79-year-old male patient, which is the first report of pulmonary infection in humans.

Conclusions: Our results indicate a significant diagnostic delay of NTM diseases in China, especially for rural patients with limited access to higher-level healthcare services.