The Rapidly Growing Mycobacteria—Mycobacterium fortuitumandMycobacterium chelonei

Abstract

Recent clinical experience has addedMycobacterium fortuitumandMycobacterium cheloneito the expanding list of nosocomial pathogens. These rapidly growing mycobacteria were first isolated 80 years ago from frogs (M. fortuitum) and sea turtles (M. chelonei). Obtained occasionally from human sources as early as 1904, they were generally regarded as commensals in man. Friedmann was so convinced of the non-pathogenicity ofM. cheloneithat he introduced the “turtle vaccine” as a means of preventing and treating tuberculosis. Contemporary medical literature firmly establishes these organisms as human pathogens with particular importance in nosocomial infections.