Pulmonary Infection with Mycobacterium Kansasii

Atypical acid-fast have frequently been shown to produce pulmonary disease in adults.1-5This, however, has rarely been reported in children. The literature is complicated by the fact that the term acid-fast organisms covers a considerable variety of mycobacteria. The taxonomy of this group is uncertain and sometimes controversial and is in urgent need of further investigational work. It may be helpful to start this discussion with a short summary of the present state of our information on this group in the form of a table (Table 1). Adult pulmonary infection with atypical acid-fast has been described with increasing frequency. In the central United States this is usually due to Mycobacterium kansasii2,3and along the southern Atlantic coast it is usually due to the Battey organism.12,13 These organisms, on the other hand, rarely produce pulmonary disease in childhood. They do, however, frequently infect the cervical