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• Summary
• Start Here
• Symptoms
• Diagnosis and Tests

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• Specifics
• Genetics

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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) Lung Disease (American Lung Association)
• Nontuberculous Mycobacteria (NTM): Overview (National Jewish Health)

Symptoms

• Symptoms and Diagnosis of Nontuberculous Mycobacterium (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: Temporal trends and spatial analysis of leprosy surveillance indicators in the...
• Article: Safety of single-dose bedaquiline combined with rifampicin for leprosy post-exposure prophylaxis:...
• Article: Burden of leprosy and associated risk factors for disabilities in Tanzania...
• Mycobacterial Infections -- see more articles

Reference Desk

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

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