Cutaneous infection by Mycobacterium haemophilum and kansasii in an IgA-deficient man

Abstract

Background: The prevalence of infections by nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) has steadily increased over the past decades, especially in immunocompromised patients.Case presentation: We present a patient with IgA-deficiency and mixed cutaneous infection by two slowly growing mycobacteria, Mycobacterium (M.) haemophilum and M. kansasii.Conclusions: Cutaneous M. haemophilum infections most often result from HIV or transplantation-associated immunosuppression. Rarely, M. haemophilum may also infect healthy patients or iatrogenically immunosuppressed patients without transplantation. M. kansasii is one of the most frequent NTM and large awareness exists about its involvement in human diseases. Mycobacterial diagnosis of cutaneous infections should be considered in long-lasting skin lesions. © 2011 Bekou et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.