CURRENT CONCEPTS - MYCOBACTERIUM-AVIUM COMPLEX INFECTION IN THE ACQUIRED-IMMUNODEFICIENCY-SYNDROME

ORGANISMS of the Mycobacterium avium complex have long been recognized as an uncommon cause of pneumonia in persons with chronic lung disease.1 2 3 4 Organisms of this complex, which comprises two closely related species, M. avium and M. intracellulare, appear to have little virulence in the normal host. Before the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) epidemic, disseminated infection with M. avium complex was extremely rare; by 1980, only 24 cases had been reported in the medical literature.5 Beginning in 1982, however, when the infection was recognized in patients with AIDS, the number of cases increased dramatically. At first, the minimal inflammatory response. . . © 1991, Massachusetts Medical Society. All rights reserved.