Mycobacterial Testing Trends, United States, 2009–20151
Samantha G. Dean, Emily Ricotta, Jonathan Fintzi, Yi Ling Lai, Sameer S. Kadri, Kenneth N. Olivier, Adrian M. Zelazny, D. Rebecca Prevots
Abstract
N ontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) are op- portunistic environmental pathogens that can cause chronic lung disease (1,2). NTM are identified through laboratory testing for acid-fast bacilli, which test for all mycobacteria, including Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Multiple studies have described increasing NTM pulmonary disease (NTM PD) prevalence in the United States (1,3-6), a phenomenon that might be caused by true increase in disease rates, new efficient testing technologies, increased mycobacterial testing, or any combination of those. We assessed trends in mycobacterial testing rates and NTM PD prevalence from 2009 through 2015. We also analyzed factors associated with differential testing rates and prevalence across subpopulations.