Nontuberculous mycobacterial pulmonary disease and Aspergillus co-infection: Bonnie and Clyde?

Nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) cause difficult-to-treat opportunistic infections, most frequently of the lungs. Patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases, cystic fibrosis or bronchiectasis are prone to NTM pulmonary disease (PD) and other opportunistic infections, including by Aspergillus fumigatus. Co-infections are difficult to identify as diagnostic criteria for NTM-PD and chronic pulmonary aspergillosis (CPA) overlap [1, 2]. The literature suggests that NTM and Aspergillus co-infections are associated with higher mortality [3]. Therefore, Aspergillus serology is part of NTM-PD diagnostic work up in our reference centre.

Source: European Respiratory Journal - July 3, 2019 Category: Respiratory Medicine Authors: Geurts, K., Zweijpfenning, S. M. H., Pennings, L. J., Schildkraut, J. A., Boeree, M. J., Magis-Escurra, C., van der Lee, H., Verweij, P. E., Hoefsloot, W., van Ingen, J. Tags: Original Articles: Research letters Source Type: research