Mycobacterium chelonae Complex Bacteremia from a Post-Renal Transplant Patient: Case Report and Literature Review

SUMMARY: In this report we present a case of a young lady with abdominal abscesses and septicemia caused by Mycobacterium chelonae complex. Identification of the organism and initiation of the appropriate antimicrobial therapy was delayed, resulting in significant morbidity and multiple hospital admissions. Gram staining of these organisms from blood culture can be easily overlooked or confused with either debris or diptheroids. We concluded that detection of Gram-positive rod colonies should prompt an acid-fast stain to distinguish diphtheroids from rapidly growing mycobacteria in immunosuppressed patients. Non-tuberculous Mycobacterium (NTM), which are rapidly growing mycobacteria, were previously called atypical mycobacteria or mycobacteria other than tuberculosis. The improvement in mycobacterial cultures and the development of new molecular techniques resulted in a dramatic expan