Nunes-Costa Daniela, Alarico Susana, Dalcolmo Margareth Pretti, Correia-Neves Margarida, Empadinhas Nuno
CNC - Center for Neuroscience and Cell Biology, University of Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal.
Reference Center Helio Fraga, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, FIOCRUZ, MoH, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Tuberculosis (Edinb). 2016 Jan;96:107-19. doi: 10.1016/j.tube.2015.09.006. Epub 2015 Oct 24.
Nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) are widely disseminated in the environment and an emerging cause of infectious diseases worldwide. Their remarkable natural resistance to disinfectants and antibiotics and an ability to survive under low-nutrient conditions allows NTM to colonize and persist in man-made environments such as household and hospital water distribution systems. This overlap between human and NTM environments afforded new opportunities for human exposure, and for expression of their often neglected and underestimated pathogenic potential. Some risk factors predisposing to NTM disease have been identified and are mainly associated with immune fragilities of the human host. However, infections in apparently immunocompetent persons are also increasingly reported. The purpose of this review is to bring attention to this emerging health problem in Portugal and Brazil and to emphasize the urgent need for increased surveillance and more comprehensive epidemiological data in both countries, where such information is scarce and seriously thwarts the adoption of proper preventive strategies and therapeutic options.
非结核分枝杆菌（NTM）广泛分布于环境中，是全球范围内传染病的一个新兴病因。它们对消毒剂和抗生素具有显著的天然抗性，并且能够在低营养条件下存活，这使得NTM能够在诸如家庭和医院供水系统等人工环境中定殖并持续存在。人类环境与NTM环境的这种重叠为人类接触NTM以及展现其常常被忽视和低估的致病潜力提供了新机会。一些易患NTM病的危险因素已被确定，且主要与人类宿主的免疫脆弱性有关。然而，免疫功能正常者感染NTM的报道也日益增多。本综述的目的是引起人们对葡萄牙和巴西这一新兴健康问题的关注，并强调这两个国家迫切需要加强监测以及获取更全面的流行病学数据，因为在这两个国家此类信息匮乏，严重阻碍了采取适当的预防策略和治疗方案。
