Abstract Objective： To analyze the epidemic trends and clinical characteristic of nontuberculous mycobacteria （NTM） infection in Jiangmen City. Method： A total of 233 NTM lung diseases diagnosed by bacteria culture and identify from 2005 to 2013 were retrospectively analyzed in the study. Result： The detected rate of NTM was increasing gradually to 10.6%. According to the drug susceptibility test， NTM were resistant to many antitubercular agents. The resistant rates were 97.8% of Isoniazid and 92.4% of Rifampicin. New drugs as Moxifloxacin， Clarithromycin and Rifabutin exhibited more potent in vitro antimycobacterial activities. The resistant rate was 44.6%， 29.3% and 29.3%， respectively. NTM lung diseases were often developed in the female group and the elderly patients. The most common symptoms were cough，expectoration and hemoptysis. More than half of the cases were combined with bronchiectasia. NTM lung disease were easily misdiagnosed as tuberculosis. Conclusion： Drug resistance of NTM in local region is serious. The mycobacteria identify and drug susceptibility test play an important role in the diagnosis and therapy of NTM infection. Clarithromycin and Rifabutin are considered to be active against NTM.
