Diversity of nontuberculous mycobacteria in eastern and southern China: a cross-sectional study

Nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) are a heterogeneous group of widely distributed environmental bacteria [1]. Despite generally low pathogenicity in humans, NTM can cause various illnesses especially in HIV-infected patients or those with immunodeficiencies [2]. In recent years, NTM-related disease incidence has increased significantly [3] and, despite China's tuberculosis (TB) programme having more than halved TB prevalence over the past 20 years [4], population-based data indicate that the proportion of NTM among all mycobacterial patient isolates has increased from 11.1% to 22.9% [5], triggering public health concerns. Nontuberculous mycobacterial infections in China: regional predominance of M. intracellulare and M. abscessus