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Henry Masur, MD

JAMA. 1982;248(22):3013.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text PDF and any section headings.

The Mycobacterium avium-intracellulare complex (MAC) is a commonly encountered group of environmental contaminants that are recognized to cause localized lung disease, particularly in persons in the southeastern United States who have preexisting lung disease. The rarity of human MAC disease has indicated that these organisms are relatively avirulent, yet it is hardly surprising that a few immunosuppressed adults (about 14) and children (about 18) have been described during the years to have had disseminated MAC disease. In this issue, Zakowski and colleagues (p 2980) verified the occurrence of disseminated disease in five homosexual males with acquired immunodeficiency (AID) syndrome, all recognized within a nine-month period at one institution. This sudden occurrence of five cases in conjunction with similar observations from several other institutions raises intriguing questions about the epidemiology and pathogenicity of MAC.¹

The MAC is present in dust, dirt, fresh water, ocean water, and animal feed.² These . . . [Full Text PDF of this Article]

Author Affiliations
National Institutes of Health Bethesda, Md

Footnotes
Address editorial communications to the Editor, 535 N Dearborn St, Chicago, IL 60610.

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