Current estimates place the number of people with NTM lung disease in the United States as high as 220,000 , and that number is increasing 8.2% every year in people 65 years and older.1 Several studies conducted to determine numbers of patients with NTM have produced results which demonstrate that the numbers are increasing, especially in the elderly and those with specific co-morbidities. Reports from other countries also suggest increases in NTM.
Though the patient profile for nontuberculous mycobacterial pulmonary infections has long been that of a slender, white, post-menopausal woman, there are just as many patients who do not fit within one or more of those categories, including men.
1 Strollo et al. The Burden of Pulmonary Nontuberculous Mycobacterial Lung Disease in the United States. Ann Am Thoracic Soc Vol 12, No 10, 1458-1464 (2015).
