The understanding of species distribution and inducible macrolide resistance in the Mycobacterium fortuitum complex (MFC) is limited. Of 90 mostly respiratory MFC clinical isolates, half were M. fortuitum, followed by M. peregrinum, M. porcinum, M. septicum, and M. conceptionense Most M. fortuitum, M. porcinum, and M. septicum isolates were inducibly resistant to clarithromycin, whereas two-thirds of the M. peregrinum isolates were clarithromycin susceptible. Clarithromycin-resistant M. fortuitum isolates exhibited common mutations of erm(39), potentially involved in clarithromycin resistance.
Keywords: Mycobacterium fortuitum complex; clarithromycin; drug resistance; nontuberculous mycobacteria.
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