The length of time you can live with Mycobacterium is around 5 years although with treatment you may live longer and be cured of the mycobacterium infection.
However the weaker your immune system is the harder the mycobacterium is on your body and the harder it is to treat.
Around 1 out of 4 people with weakened immune systems who develop mycobacterium lung disease die within 5 years of diagnoses.
You can get Mycobacterium through a wound that comes into contact with contaminated soil or through injections with substances that are contaminated with the mycobacterium or through invasive medical procedures that employ contaminated material or equipment.
You can also get Mycobacterium infections by drinking contaminated water and the mycobacterium can also enter your skin through a break in the skin such as a puncture wound or by inhaling the mycobacterium.
Nontuberculous mycobacterial lung disease or NTM lung disease is a lung infection caused by bacteria found naturally in soil and water.
If you are immunocompromised or living with a chronic lung disease you are at higher risk of infection.
You can get rid of Mycobacterium through use of different antibiotics such as amikacin, streptomycin, ethambutol, rifabutin, rifampin, azithromycin and clarithromycin.
These antibiotics are most often used in combination with each other to prevent the mycobacteria from becoming resistant to just one antibiotic.
The disease that is caused by mycobacteria is tuberculosis and mycobacterium leprae can cause leprosy.
Mycobacterium is a harmful bacteria that can cause illness in people.
The most common illness that is caused by mycobacterium is Tuberculosis.
Other types of the mycobacteria that are called nontuberculous mycobacteria can cause illness in people which are different from tuberculosis.
Mycobacterium is a genus of over 190 species in the phylum Actinomycetota, assigned its own family, Mycobacteriaceae.
This genus includes pathogens known to cause serious diseases in mammals, including tuberculosis and leprosy in humans.
You can develop a nontuberculous mycobacterial infection if you drink contaminated water.
Bacteria can also enter the body through a break in the skin, such as a puncture wound that gets contaminated with water or soil.
Inhaling the bacteria also puts you at risk for infection.
There are many species of mycobacteria known to cause disease in humans.
The two most widely known are Mycobacterium tuberculosis, which causes tuberculosis, and Mycobacterium leprae, which causes leprosy.
The other Mycobacterium species are classified as “nontuberculous” to clearly set them apart.
Tuberculosis (TB) is caused by a bacterium called Mycobacterium tuberculosis.
The bacteria usually attack the lungs, but TB bacteria can attack any part of the body such as the kidney, spine, and brain. Not everyone infected with TB bacteria becomes sick.
Tuberculosis (TB), a disease caused by the bacillus Mycobacterium tuberculosis, shares with HIV and malaria, the distinction of being one of the deadliest infectious diseases of our time.
The World Health Organization estimates that one third of the world's population is infected with M. tuberculosis.
Doctors typically recommend a combination of three to four antibiotics, such as clarithromycin, azithromycin, rifampin, rifabutin, ethambutol, streptomycin, and amikacin.
They use several antibiotics to prevent the mycobacteria from becoming resistant to any one medication.
A complete cure can be expected with some NTM strains but not with others.
Reinfection is common.
To avoid becoming infected again, you may need to make some lifestyle changes.
The most common symptoms of mycobacterium include a persistent cough, fatigue, weight loss, night sweats, and occasionally shortness of breath (dyspnea) and coughing up of blood (hemoptysis).
Less often, NTM infection can cause skin or soft tissue infections or infection and inflammation of the lymph nodes (lymphadenitis).