Notes from the field: rapidly growing nontuberculous Mycobacterium wound infections among medical tourists undergoing cosmetic surgeries in the Dominican Republic--multiple states, March 2013-February 2014

MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. 2014 Mar 7;63(9):201-2.

Abstract

In August 2013, the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (MDHMH) was notified of two persons with rapidly growing nontuberculous mycobacterial (RG-NTM) surgical-site infections. Both patients had undergone surgical procedures as medical tourists at the same private surgical clinic (clinic A) in the Dominican Republic the previous month. Within 7 days of returning to the United States, both sought care for symptoms that included surgical wound abscesses, clear fluid drainage, pain, and fever. Initial antibiotic therapy was ineffective. Material collected from both patients' wounds grew Mycobacterium abscessus exhibiting a high degree of antibiotic resistance characteristic of this organism.

MeSH terms

  • Adolescent
  • Adult
  • Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, U.S.
  • Disease Outbreaks*
  • Dominican Republic
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Medical Tourism*
  • Middle Aged
  • Mycobacterium / classification*
  • Mycobacterium / isolation & purification
  • Mycobacterium Infections / epidemiology*
  • Mycobacterium Infections / etiology
  • Plastic Surgery Procedures / adverse effects*
  • Surgical Wound Infection / epidemiology*
  • Surgical Wound Infection / etiology
  • United States / epidemiology
  • Young Adult