MYCOBACTERIUM-AVIUM COMPLEX SPUTUM ISOLATES FROM PATIENTS WITH RESPIRATORY SYMPTOMS IN GUINEA-BISSAU

In total, 814 patients with clinically suspected tuberculosis were exa mined at the Raoul Follerau Hospital in Bissau, Guinea-Bissau. Sputum samples were collected, and cultures were grown on Lowenstein-Jensen m edium. Isolates were further characterized by standard biochemical met hods and nucleic acid probes for Mycobacterium tuberculosis and Mycoba cterium avium complex (MAC). Serum samples were collected and analyzed for antibodies against human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) types 1 and 2. Of 17 patients who had MAC organisms in sputum, 2 were HIV-2-posit ive and none was HIV-1-positive. Of the total 814 patients, 189 had cu lture-verified tuberculosis; 36 (19%) of them were HIV-2-positive. Thu s, of 206 patients with sputum culture positive for M. tuberculosis or MAC, 17 (8%) had MAC organisms in sputum. MAC infection may be the ca use of some treatment failures in areas where MAC pulmonary infection is common.