New Options Imperative for Treatment of Nontuberculous Mycobacterial Pulmonary Disease

LONDON, September 8, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

Michael R Loebinger, Tobias Welte; European Respiratory & Pulmonary Diseases, 2016;2(2):54-7 DOI: http://doi.org/10.17925/ERPD.2016.02.02.54

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Published recently in European Respiratory & Pulmonary Diseases, the peer-reviewed journal from touchRESPIRATORY, Michael R Loebinger and Tobias Welte focus on nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM). NTM, an extremely diverse group with a wide spectrum of virulence, appear to be rising in prevalence. This may be due to both increased awareness and improved diagnosis, among other factors. Most NTM-pulmonary disease (NTM-PD) infections are caused by the slow growing Mycobacterium avium complex (MAC) however, other species can also cause pulmonary disease including M. abscessus, M. xenopi, M. malmoense and M. kansasii. Symptoms of NTM-PD vary considerably and may include chronic cough, with or without sputum production or haemoptysis. Treatment options are limited at present and associated with significant intolerance, treatment failures and drug-drug interactions. Further prospective studies are needed to define suitable drug regimens for different NTM species and to improve knowledge of the natural history and epidemiology of NTM-PD.

The full peer-reviewed, open-access article is available here:

http://doi.org/10.17925/ERPD.2016.02.02.54

Disclosure: Michael R Loebinger has received consultancy fees from Insmed, but this has not impacted on the article. Tobias Welte has received consultancy fees from Insmed, but this has not impacted on the article.

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