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Volume 24, Number 3—March 2018
Research

Increasing Prevalence of Nontuberculous Mycobacteria in Respiratory Specimens from US-Affiliated Pacific Island Jurisdictions1

Chunrong Lin2Comments to Author , Chad Russell, Bruce Soll, Dominic Chow, Sapna Bamrah, Richard Brostrom, Wesley Kim, Jerry Scott, and Matthew J. Bankowski3
Author affiliations: University of Hawaii at Manoa, Honolulu, Hawaii, USA (C. Lin, C. Russell, B. Soll, D. Chow, W. Kim, J. Scott, M.J. Bankowski); Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia, USA (S. Bamrah, R. Brostrom); Diagnostic Laboratory Services, Inc., Aiea, Hawaii, USA (W. Kim, M.J. Bankowski); Queen’s Medical Center, Honolulu (W. Kim, M.J. Bankowski)

Main Article

Table 1

Baseline characteristics of patients from various regions in the US-Affiliated Pacific Islands with respiratory tract culture specimens tested for AFB, August 2007–December 2011*

Characteristic Total population† AFB positive
 AFB negative
NTM MTB
Total 304,542 (100) 323 (0.1) 675 (0.2) 4,804 (2)
Median age, y 24.0 34.8 42.6 39.9
Sex, %
M 50.9 50.8 50.7 54.4
F 49.1 49.2 49.3 45.6
Island nations
American Samoa 55,529 (18.2) 12 (3.7) 10 (1.4) 120 (2.5)
Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands 55,121 (18.2) 29 (9.0) 87 (12.8) 522 (11.5)
Federated States of Micronesia 107,154 (35.1) 176 (54.5) 266 (39.4) 2,140 (44.5)
Palau 20,879 (6.8) 32 (9.9) 51 (7.5) 882 (18.4)
Republic of the Marshall Islands 65,859 (21.6) 74 (22.9) 261 (38.6) 1,140 (23.7)

*Values are no. (%) patients unless otherwise indicated. American Samoa, Federated States of Micronesia, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands reported 2, 2, and 1 patients with co-infections, respectively. Specimens from Guam were not included in specimens provided to the Diagnostic Laboratory Services during this period. AFB, acid-fast bacilli; MTB, Mycobacterium tuberculosis; NTM, nontuberculous mycobacteria.
†Data were obtained from https://www.census.gov/population/international/data/idb/informationGateway.php.

Main Article

1Preliminary results from this study were presented at the 2013 American College of Physicians Hawaii Chapter Annual Meeting, January 2, 2013, Honolulu, Hawaii, USA.

2Current affiliation: Stanford University, Stanford, California, USA.

3Current affiliation: Baptist Medical Center, Jacksonville, Florida, USA

Page created: February 15, 2018
Page updated: February 15, 2018
Page reviewed: February 15, 2018
The conclusions, findings, and opinions expressed by authors contributing to this journal do not necessarily reflect the official position of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the Public Health Service, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, or the authors' affiliated institutions. Use of trade names is for identification only and does not imply endorsement by any of the groups named above.
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