Abstract
A 19-year-old man presented with a 1.5-cm nodule on the first dorsal metacarpal ray. The patient denied having contact with fish tanks or fish, but recalled handling many reptiles without gloves in the vivarium where he worked. A culture of a skin biopsy specimen yielded Mycobacterium marinum. The clinical outcome was favourable after a 2-week course of intramuscular gentamicin (180 mg daily) combined with a 6-week course of oral clarithromycin (500 mg twice a day). Doctors should be aware that vivariums, in addition to fish tanks, can be sources of M. marinum exposure.
Keywords:
Infection; Mycobacterium marinum; Reptiles.
Copyright © 2014 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.
Publication types
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Case Reports
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Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
MeSH terms
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Animals
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Anti-Bacterial Agents / therapeutic use
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Clarithromycin / therapeutic use
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Gentamicins / therapeutic use
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Humans
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Male
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Mycobacterium Infections, Nontuberculous / diagnosis*
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Mycobacterium Infections, Nontuberculous / drug therapy
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Mycobacterium Infections, Nontuberculous / microbiology
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Mycobacterium Infections, Nontuberculous / transmission
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Mycobacterium marinum / drug effects
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Mycobacterium marinum / isolation & purification*
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Mycobacterium marinum / pathogenicity
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Mycobacterium marinum / physiology
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Reptiles / microbiology*
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Skin / microbiology
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Skin Diseases, Bacterial / diagnosis*
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Skin Diseases, Bacterial / drug therapy
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Skin Diseases, Bacterial / microbiology
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Skin Diseases, Bacterial / transmission
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Young Adult
Substances
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Anti-Bacterial Agents
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Gentamicins
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Clarithromycin
Supplementary concepts
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Infection with Mycobacterium marinum