That is 100% correct! My question is - for a patient with bronchiectasis, with AWC, is it possible to prevent a relapse or reinfection?

I think this is an excellent question that I am curious about also. I too have heard that there is a potential to “cure” MAC (albeit roughly 60%, so not everyone). But I have also heard that we never fully get rid of the MAC that it lurks at undetectable levels, in which case maybe it grows to detectable levels again, maybe not. Definitely having BE is a risk factor for “reinfection” but is this because of the mucus that gets trapped in our lungs (providing a cozy place to live for new bacteria) or because the structural damage provides lots of places for the initial MAC to dig in hide at low levels? Off the top of my head, I feel like from what I have read the consensus seems to be that “reinfections” are generally new infections, certainly in year 2 after treatment or later. Obviously if it is a new strain then it’s straightforward to say it is a new infection. But if it is the same strain, how can one know? We all know that just because a sputum sample is negative doesn’t mean there is no MAC. And certainly after treatment, if sputum is negative and CT stable, I can’t imagine anyone is getting a bronchoscopy simply to check for MAC. So how do we know MAC is gone-gone? I realize it may not matter. If your symptoms are gone or manageable, your CT stable (or even improved!), and your sputum negative, I think many of us would probably say “good enough”. But I do see the word “cure” batted around by various doctors, especially as regards those of us on the younger side of the patient population, and the more I learn, the more I question whether “cure” is an accurate description of what one can actually hope to accomplish under even the best case scenario. This is a question that is beyond the expertise of my current doctors who are not NTM specialists. It is on my list of questions for NJH.