Evaluation of GenoType NTM-DR Assay for Identification of Mycobacterium chimaera

摘要

Mycobacterium chimaera is a slow-growing nontuberculous mycobacterium recently recognized as a novel species within the Mycobacterium avium complex (MAC) (1). Similarly to Mycobacterium avium and Mycobacterium intracellulare, M. chimaera is associated with infections primarily in immunosuppressed patients and in those with an underlying lung disease (2–4). However, identifying M. chimaera as the cause of these infections is difficult, as it is often misidentified as M. intracellulare using current phenotypic and molecular tests (5). Many commercial assays such as GenoType Mycobacterium CM (Hain Lifescience, Nehren, Germany), AccuProbe MAC culture identification test (Genprobe, United States), and Inno LiPA Mycobacteria (Immunogenetics, Ghent, Belgium) cannot distinguish between these two closely related species (6).