The Treatment of Disease Due to Mycobacterium Kansasii

Abstract

Much has been learned during the past three decades about the chemotherapy of tuberculosis. As a result, that disease has declined as a major health problem in the United States. During the same period of time, it has been recognized that pulmonary infections due to other mycobacterial species are not medical rarities. Indeed, there is a distinct possibility that the decrease in infection due to Mycobacterium tuberculosis has resulted in a greater segment of the population with less immunity to other mycobacterial infections and ultimately an increased incidence of these other infections. In the earlier days of mycobacterial chemotherapy, the treatment of the nontuberculous species was considered to be far less effective than was the case with tuberculosis. This is still the situation with most nontuberculous mycobacterial diseases, with the noteworthy exception of pulmonary infection due to M. kansasii. In this article we will give opinions concerning suitable chemotherapy of pulmonary disease due to M. kansasii, based upon our own observations as well as those of others.