Mycobacterial infections in immunosuppressed patients.

A brief account of the laboratory diagnosis of mycobacterial infections in 13 immunosuppressed patients, which were observed between 1967 and 1979 at one group of hospitals is presented. In nine patients, the infection was caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis; of the "atypical" mycobacteria, M. fortuitum, M. haemophilum, M. kansasii and M. scrofulaceum (serotype Lunning) each caused one infection. These findings suggest that immunosuppressed patients are at risk of tuberculosis, despite the low incidence of the disease in Australia at the present time.