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First case of Mycobacterium haemophilum infection in an AIDS patient in Italy **
Author(s) -
Martinelli C,
Farese A,
Carocci A,
Giorgini S,
Tortoli E,
Leoncini F
Publication year - 2004
Publication title -
journal of the european academy of dermatology and venereology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.655
H-Index - 107
eISSN - 1468-3083
pISSN - 0926-9959
DOI - 10.1111/j.1468-3083.2004.00781.x
Subject(s) - medicine , dermatology , incidence (geometry) , mycobacterium avium complex , disease , acid fast , human immunodeficiency virus (hiv) , tuberculosis , mycobacterium , immunology , pathology , physics , sputum , optics
Mycobacterium haemophilum , a strongly acid‐ and alcohol‐fast bacillus belonging to the group of non‐tuberculous mycobacteria was first described in 1978 as the cause of cutaneous ulcerating lesions in a woman with Hodgkin's disease. Infection due to M. haemophilum is rare but increasing in prevalence in immnunosuppressed subjects, particularly in patients with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) patients. The skin is the most common site of infection with erythematous or violaceous papules and/or nodules that are usually painless at first, but some elements develop into abscesses or ulcers that can become very painful. The incidence of M. haemophilum is unknown, but cases of infection have been reported in Australia, Canada, the United States, France, Israel, the United Kingdom and Taiwan; to date no cases have been reported in Italy, thus the case reported here is apparently the first one observed in our country.