SYSTEMIC INFECTION WITH MYCOBACTERIUM GENAVENSE FOLLOWING IMMUNOSUPPRESSIVE THERAPY IN A PATIENT WHO WAS SERONEGATIVE FOR HUMAN-IMMUNODEFICIENCY-VIRUS

We describe, to our knowledge, the first case of disseminated Mycobact erium genavense infection in a patient who was seronegative for human immunodeficiency virus. The patient, a 47-year-old woman, had been pre viously treated with immunosuppressive drugs for 9 months to control a n unclassified immunologic disorder characterized by intermittent feve r and inflammatory pulmonary, hepatic, and dermal infiltrates. Antemor tem and postmortem examinations revealed the presence of numerous myco bacteria in the bone marrow, spleen, kidneys, and lungs; these organis ms failed to grow in vitro and were identified as M. genavense by 16S rRNA gene sequencing. This case illustrates that systemic M. genavense infections are not restricted to patients with AIDS but can also occu r in otherwise immunocompromised patients.