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Basics

• Summary
• Start Here
• Symptoms
• Diagnosis and Tests

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• Specifics
• Genetics

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• Clinical Trials
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Summary

Mycobacteria are a type of germ. There are many different kinds. The most common one causes tuberculosis. Another one causes leprosy. Still others cause infections that are called atypical mycobacterial infections. They aren't "typical" because they don't cause tuberculosis. But they can still harm people, especially people with other problems that affect their immunity, such as AIDS.

Sometimes you can have these infections with no symptoms at all. At other times, they can cause lung symptoms similar to tuberculosis:

• Cough
• Weight loss
• Coughing up blood or mucus
• Weakness or fatigue
• Fever and chills
• Night sweats
• Lack of appetite and weight loss

Medicines can treat these infections, but often more than one is needed to cure the infection.

Start Here

• About Mycobacterium abscessus (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)
• Learn about Nontuberculous Mycobacteria (NTM) (American Lung Association)
• NTM Infection and What You Should Know (National Jewish Health)

Symptoms

• Symptoms and Diagnosis of NTM Lung Disease (American Lung Association)

Diagnosis and Tests

• Acid-Fast Bacillus (AFB) Tests (National Library of Medicine) Also in Spanish

Specifics

• Buruli Ulcer (Mycobacterium ulcerans Infection) (World Health Organization) Also in Spanish
• Leprosy (American Academy of Family Physicians)
• Leprosy (Hansen's Disease) (National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases)
• National Hansen's Disease (Leprosy) Program (Health Resources and Services Administration)

Genetics

• Leprosy: MedlinePlus Genetics (National Library of Medicine)

Clinical Trials

• ClinicalTrials.gov: Leprosy (National Institutes of Health)
• ClinicalTrials.gov: Mycobacterium Infections (National Institutes of Health)
• ClinicalTrials.gov: Mycobacterium Infections, Nontuberculous (National Institutes of Health)

Journal Articles References and abstracts from MEDLINE/PubMed (National Library of Medicine)

• Article: Pre-clinical evaluation of a low-cost tool for skin temperature measurements as...
• Article: Investigating the role of soil-transmitted helminth infections in the development of...
• Article: Implementation fidelity in leprosy care and support for disability prevention and...
• Mycobacterial Infections -- see more articles

Reference Desk

• Glossary of Tuberculosis Terms (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)

Find an Expert

• American Lung Association
• National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases

Patient Handouts

• Leprosy (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
• Mycobacterial culture (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish