Catheter-related bacteremia due to M. chelonae in an immunocompromised patient: An emerging nosocomial pathogen

Mycobacterium abscessus causing native valve endocarditis due to peripherally inserted central catheter line

Infections due to rapidly-growing mycobacteria (RGM) are increasing worldwide, especially in immunocompromised hosts. However, data on the clinical features of patients with RGM bacteremia are limited [1]. Data on the incidence of clinically significant non-tuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) infections from India are scarce as these are frequently under-diagnosed due to either under recognition by clinicians because of the nonspecific nature of their clinical manifestations, and/or the inadequacy of laboratory services [2].We present a case of Mycobacterium abscessus native tricuspid valve endocarditis in a patient who had a peripherally inserted central catheter line (PICC).

Clinicians need to be aware of RGM as a cause of prolonged fever in patients who have chronic indwelling intravenous catheters [3].

Chronic mycobacterial meningitis due to Mycobacterium chelonae: a case report

We report a case of chronic meningitis due to Mycobacterium chelonae. This organism is a rapidly growing Mycobacterium (RGM) and can be found worldwide in environmental sources such as soil, dust, and water. M. chelonae is an uncommon cause of meningitis; the majority of infections caused by this organism are localized cutaneous or soft tissue infections, and rarely lung infections. The organism is indistinguishable phenotypically, so we applied PCR based on the rpoB gene sequence followed by restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) for molecular identification. The subsequent sequencing of RFLP products revealed 99.7% similarity with M. chelonae.