A big group of bacteria found in our soil, our water, and our showerheads are harmless for most of us.
In a study from Augusta University, scientists found they are associated with an increased risk of dying in individuals whose kidneys have failed.
In the study, the team looked in the United States Renal Data System at patients with end-stage renal disease, or ESRD, who also had a diagnosis of infection with the nontuberculous mycobacteria, or NTM, group.
They found a strong increase in death with an NTM diagnosis in these patients, indicating that early diagnosis and treatment of an NTM infection may improve survival in ESRD patients.
The team says it’s important to be alert that certain patients can be at higher risk for NTM and that NTM carries a risk of death.
These “opportunistic” pathogens, which have even been found in dialysis machines, tend only to cause serious problems when a patient has a compromised lung or immune system function.
Patients whose kidneys have failed are considered to have a compromised immune function and are generally considered at higher risk of infection, so investigators at MCG and the VA wanted to better identify the prevalence, risk factors as well as associated deaths in those who also had an NTM infection.
They looked specifically at the 0.3% of the 1.1 million patients in the database with ESRD and an NTM diagnosis over a decade that ended in 2015. Patients were either on dialysis or had kidney transplants.
With a few exceptions like skin disease, NTM infection pretty much always increased mortality in patients with ESRD.
The researchers emphasize that their findings highlight the need for physicians to remain vigilant for NTM infections in ESRD patients.
It does mean patients with ESRD may need testing for NTM, if symptoms indicate it may be present, and treatment with the appropriate antibiotics.
It may additionally indicate they need to be screened for conditions like infection with HIV, which directly targets the immune system, and those who have received a kidney transplant may need adjustments in the medications they must take to keep their immune system from attacking the transplanted organ.
If you care about kidney health, please read studies about big causes of chronic kidney disease, and how to protect your kidneys from diabetes.
For more information about kidney health, please see recent studies about foods that could help prevent the recurrence of kidney stones, and results showing how to live long with kidney disease.
The study was conducted by Stephanie L. Baer et al and published in the Journal of Investigative Medicine.
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