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Outbreak of Acupuncture-Associated Cutaneous Mycobacterium Abscessus Infections

2006; SAGE Publishing; Volume: 10; Issue: 4 Linguagem: Inglês

10.2310/7750.2006.00041

1615-7109

Patrick Tang, Scott Walsh, Christian Murray, Cecilia Alterman, Monali Varia, George Broukhanski, Pamela Chedore, Joel G. DeKoven, Dalai Assaad, Wayne L. Gold, Danny Ghazarian, Michael Finkelstein, Marjolyn Pritchard, Barbara Yaffe, Frances Jamieson, Bonnie Henry, Elizabeth Phillips,

Infectious Diseases and Mycology

Cutaneous atypical mycobacterial infections have been increasingly described in association with cosmetic and alternative procedures.We report an outbreak of acupuncture-associated mycobacteriosis. Between April and December 2002, 32 patients developed cutaneous mycobacteriosis after visiting an acupuncture practice in Toronto, Canada.Of 23 patients whose lesions were biopsied, 6 (26.1%) had culture-confirmed infection with Mycobacterium abscessus. These isolates were genetically indistinguishable by amplified fragment length polymorphism. The median incubation period was 1 month. Of 24 patients for whom clinical information was available, 23 (95.8%) had resolution of their infection. All patients developed residual scarring or hyperpigmentation.Nontuberculous mycobacteria should be recognized as an emerging, but preventable, cause of acupuncture-associated infections.