

EMOTICON IN OUTLOOK FOR MAC MAC
Some studies found that infection with MAC recurs up to 50% of the time. The bacteria may have developed resistance to treatment. If that happens, it could mean that the infection wasn’t really gone.

But sometimes the infection goes away and then comes back. Your doctor will consider the infection cured once there’s no sign of it for at least a year. You’ll need to treat the infection for at least a year, and often longer, to be sure the infection is gone. It’s a good idea to see a specialist or other doctor with experience treating MAC to make sure you’re taking a combination of medicines that’s most likely to work. Your outlook will improve if you take two or three antibiotics at once. If you treat the infection with one antibiotic, the bacteria causing your infection are more likely to develop resistance. They may also do tests to see how well the bacteria responds to treatment with antibiotics. Your doctor may do tests to find out what type of bacteria is causing your infection. MAC infections often don’t respond as well to antibiotics as other infections do. Your outlook will depend on the specific bacteria causing your infection. Have nodules in your lungs (cavitary disease).Your risk of a poorer outcome may be greater if you: The risk also varies a lot from one study to the next. But the cause of death wasn’t necessarily the infection itself, since many people with MAC have other health conditions, too. One review of studies found that 1 in 4 people with MAC die within 5 years. It may also help you with symptoms of the infection.

But treatment may also help to keep the infection stable even if it doesn’t go away. Treatment can sometimes get rid of the infection for good. It’s a good idea to talk to your doctors about your outlook and what you should expect from treatment. But when you have other health conditions, you may not do as well even with treatment.

You’ll also be more likely to have a good outcome. The sooner this happens, the more likely it is that you’ll get the right treatment. That’s because the infection can look like pneumonia or other lung conditions.īut once doctors realize that could be what you have, it’s possible to treat. But diagnosis often doesn’t happen right away. Generally, the earlier you get diagnosed with a MAC infection, the better you’ll do. But your outlook depends on many factors. You’ll most likely need treatment for a year or more to cure it and it sometimes comes back. The infection most often comes from a type of NTM known as mycobacterium avium complex (MAC). More people around the world have nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) infections now than in the past.
