ABSTRACT
Mycobacterium fortuitum is an important opportunistic pathogen among the rapidly growing Mycobacteria. Disseminated disease occurs as a consequence of bacteremia linked to vascular catheters, which carry high morbidity and mortality when they occur in immuno-compromised patients. Conventional culture methods often miss these organisms since they may grow more slowly (after 48 h) and are dismissed as skin contaminants because of their morphological resemblance to diphtheroids on grams staining. We report a case of 10 months old child with primitive neuroectodermal tumor who developed disseminated disease with M. fortuitum that was related to an indwelling intravascular device. The isolates were confirmed as M. fortuitum by polymerase chain reaction based DNA sequencing targeting heat shock protein 65 gene. The child was treated with, rifampicin, ethambutol and azithromycin. The patient improved remarkably and became afebrile 2 days after institution of therapy and removal of the catheter. The treatment was given for 3 months.