@ cmcclure i will tell you what my infectiologist told me.  A lot of people do have a MAC but they don’t know before it start to bother them.  The MAC is inactive until something triggers it to be active.  There is many more people who has it than known but

has never been diagnose.  My doctor says it is not contagious and can not be transmitted to another person.  Maybe the stress you live at work has a lot to do with it but how can you prove that? That is a good question? Since Dr doesn’t know the reason it

is based on a MAYBE we contracted a MAC working in a garden or did you contracted the tuberculosis  when you were young or....or.... Drs don’t know!  Do you have bronchiectasis?   Do not stress yourself it will be worst! Our prayers will be with you to guide

you toward health!  

Nic good luck!  Do not hesitated to ask your questions!  All questions are good because we all have our own experience!

Maybe from the water. But I believe there are allot of us in health care that have it.

Okay here i undertsand it is not person to person.... At these hospice patients would spit, throw feces pull there traches out and spit across my bow. I bathed these pateints in showers .My point isnt to address person to person contact only to stop abdication of responsibility.. So they (powers that be) either need to say there is a very low probability OR sign the sheet that says I can continue to work with any and all pateints this includes maternity ward, burnward, transpant, and chemo pateint... something has to give. Thank you all I need ..something has to give.

@cmcclure the danger is if you also have a pulmonary disease like bronchiectasis then you are more at risk catching bacteria according to my infectiologist.  You are exposing yourself  to danger for yourself with those patients.  The only way you know if you

contracted a MAC is by having a bronchoscopy and they send it to the lab for a perfect result.  Sputum is not accurate!  If you had a Ctscan then they would know if you have a pulmonary disease/bronchiectasis .  It is the only way to find out.  Regularly xray

don’t detect that problem.  Make sure you were properly diagnosed!  Nick

As a teacher I worked with children with aids, hep B, MRSA, and other infectious diseases and skin conditions which included measles, chicken pox, fifths disease, impetigo, staph, lice, and scabies. The only difference is that legally I didn’t have a right to know - .except for the obvious ones. A dear friend told me to look at every child as if he/she had aids and to act accordingly. I too was spit on, bit, and had my beautiful front teeth knocked out. And this was all by angry kindergarteners. The point with MAC is that there is no research to confirm person to person contagion. So basically no one can say you are safe to work with those people. It is your choice when you chose that kind of job. An adoption agency once asked my vet to write a paper saying my GSD wouldn’t bite. He said he couldn’t guarantee even a little teenie dog wouldn’t bite. Point being until there is proven research that MAC is contagious we all have to accept that we have some kind of propensity for it and move on to how we are going to, hopefully, kick it out of us!

I can add that we alI know that this is an opportunistic disease. It will strike when one is weakened. Maybe you had a cold that lasted longer than normal. It could have gained a foothold then. These bacterial are everywhere, in every environment. It does seem like more nurses get it, but they are always around diseases and can be overworked, stressed. The only environment where it seems to be more pervasive is someplace with steam, open baths, steam rooms, showers, etc.

Hospitals are notorious for having MAC in their water systems. I worked at several hospitals for a number of years as a an aide and then as a nursing student before becoming a teacher.

@cmcclure I take it I can add you to my list of healthcare workers who has MAC? I am collecting data. Thank you.

@jkiemen I agree, Jo Ann. The majority of our members on the site worked in healthcare.

@cmcclure Hi. I would assume your mac is work related as so many members on this site have come from healthcare backgrounds.