Investigations of a worldwide epidemic of invasive Mycobacterium chimaera associated with heater-cooler devices in cardiac surgery have been hampered by low clinical awareness and challenging diagnoses. Using data from Switzerland, we estimated the burden of invasive M. chimaera to be 156-282 cases/year in 10 major cardiac valve replacement market countries.
Keywords: Mycobacterium chimaera; Switzerland; bacteria; cardiac surgery; endocarditis; global health; heater–cooler devices; incidence; prevalence; prosthetic valve; surgical site infection; tuberculosis and other mycobacteria.