1. Prevalence and diagnostic challenges
M. abscessus is an environmental rapidly-growing mycobacteria
(RGM) pathogenic to humans (1, 2). Clinical manifestations include
pneumonia (3, 4), lymphadenitis (5, 6), skin and soft tissue infections
(7), intra-vascular catheter related infections (8-11), systemic
bacteremia and peritonitis (12). Cell-mediated immunity is the major
protective immune response against intracellular bacteria (13, 14).
Haemic malignancy and cytotoxic therapy impair phagocytic, cell-mediated
and humoral immunity (7, 15) and thus predispose patients to NTM
infections as in our patient. From a single-institution retrospective
review in our locality, nearly all paediatric patients with NTM
infection had an underlying congenital or acquired immunodeficiency
(16).