Is a Time to Established Medical Mycobacteriology as an Academic Degree (Master of Science)? Strategical Plan for Next Future

Abstract

The genus Mycobacterium contains more than 190 species, including several major human pathogens as well as numerous environmental species. With so much advances in molecular methods, the transmission of huge number of mycobacteria called nontuberculosis mycobacterium (NTM) is still under a question. Till date, the majority of work have been focused on tuberculosis (TB) complex mycobacteria, the knowledge of human-to-human, environmental, animal-to-human transmission, and vice versa susceptibility, and most of their NTM genomic structures have been ignored, especially in limited-resource countries. For example, in Iran, there are currently 423 public laboratories for direct smear microscopy (DSM) and 42 laboratories for mycobacterial cultures, and 9 diagnostic centers for susceptibility and identification of TB complex from NTM species. Only National TB Reference Laboratory in Iran is capable of identifying subspecies of NTMs and preforms second-line drug resistant. Furthermore, there are some governmental centers such as Pasteur and Razi Institutes that are capable to detect TB and NTM species within the country. Due to the importance of these opportunistic microorganisms that caused pulmonary and extrapulmonary infections, the need for specialized personnel in this field seems to be necessary. Due to the weakness of governing bodies to educate personals in the TB laboratories, it is essential to have an academic degree as a “Master of Science (MSc)” in medical universities to educate skilled academic individuals in this particular field. As a consequence, we can expect to use the updated identification methods and perform research in various fields of NTMs. With no doubt, this course will help to recognize the related diseases and improve the overall public health problems because Mycobacterium species are no longer considered to be a narrow group of microorganisms.