MAC contagious question

I'm not stating the two are related, I'm stating the order in which it happened. It's a source for me to wonder. It's not me defining that it came from a cough. But this led me on the path to see how it's transmitted. And I can't understand how it could be transmitted from a person to soil to a person but not a person to person if it's basically vapor like breathing vapor

I have wondered about this for years. My mother was diagnosed with MAC and struggled with it and bronchiectasis for at least 15 years. I was with her frequently following her diagnosis and of course in her presence when she coughed as well as when she periodically coughed up blood. I have a narrow upper chest front to back as did she. I did and still do a lot of gardening as did she (her passion was roses) and neither of us wore a mask until I learned I should when I read the small print on a bag of garden soil that suggested gloves and a mask. Yet I am pretty sure I contracted MAC by staying in an older hotel in NYC with older pipes of course and an old showerhead. I came down with pneumonia like symptoms a day after my flight home but after two rounds of azithromycin, I slowly recovered yet had a lingering cough. It was only after my mother died (at age 89) that I suggested to our mutual pulmonologist that perhaps I had MAC given my similar long term symptoms although he was convinced it was not contagious. A bronchoscopy yielded a positive diagnosis. So who knows?

There is also a hereditary component to bronchiectasis in some people - my mother had it, I have it and my daughter was diagnosed at about 40. We do not fit the "profile" of being small and slender with low BMI - rather we are more the sturdy, muscular type. But we all had asthma, and a lot of exposure to noxious dust, gasses, and other lung-killers in our lives. We also all have/had rheumatoid arthritis.

My Mom had MAC near the end of her life, but with many other health challenges, we chose to only treat when she was symptomatic - no Big 3. I endured nearly 2 years of treatment, and am so far NTM free after 5 1/2 years off the meds. My daughter has avoided NTM so far.

Yes, people with BE and other lung diseases cannot clear the lungs and hence, the load increases in our bodies. And what scoop described makes total sense in regard to repeated exposure. We hear these horrible statistics on recurrence/reinfection rates (my dr told me 50% for MABC), and I wonder how these rates are impacted when people take steps to minimize their NTM exposure along with daily ACT and exercise. as for getting NTM it from someone who is coughing nonstop on a plane, I think that's feasible. But, only for those of us that cannot clear our lungs like healthy lungs. I always wear a mask on airplanes.

Yes who knows??

From all my reading of MAC, there hasn't been any confirmed cases of person-to-person spread of the bacteria. Mycobacterium Avium Complex is so prevalent in the soil and water on every continent; many more people would have it if it was contagious. It's those with weakened immune systems or damaged lungs (BE or COPD) that can't fight it off. It's also VERY slow growing. Your wife likely had MAC festering when she caught the bug her neighboring traveler was so liberally sharing. If she didn't catch that bug, they probably wouldn't have found the MAC for quite a while later. MAC also has a biofilm around it, which isn't the only reason others don't get it from us, but it's one reason. Also, MAC bugs live inside macrophages in our lungs. The powerful white blood cells that are supposed to destroy infection becomes a home for them to grow and stay alive. It a disgusting thought, but that also might be another reason that the bug isn't spread by us coughing in public.

RA causes Bronchiectasis and possibly the other way around. There is quite a connection.

Yes my husband's bronchiectasis - quite different than mine, is a result of a certain type of RA he has had for many years. My rheumatologist would not say that bronchiectasis causes RA, but rather the immune system that predisposes us to one also predisposes us to the other. And othe inflammatory conditions like IBS and even coronary artery disease.

wow, this is the first I've read of immune system predisposing to coronary artery disease, and the first I've read about BE and CAD in the same breath. I thought CAD was genetic and environmentally influenced (diet, lifestyle) etc.

Chronic inflammation is a recently recognized factor in cardiovascular disease. Here is an article I bookmarked a few years ago when my cardiologist mentioned the connection:
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8315628/
Here is the opening paragraph:
"Inflammation constitutes a complex, highly conserved cascade of molecular and cellular events. Inflammation has been labeled as “the fire within,” is highly regulated, and is critical to host defense and tissue repair. In general, inflammation is beneficial and has evolved to promote survival. However, inflammation can also be maladaptive when chronically activated and sustained, leading to progressive tissue injury and reduced survival. Examples of a maladaptive response include rheumatologic disease and atherosclerosis. Despite evidence gathered by Virchow over 100 years ago showing that inflammatory white cells play a role in atherogenesis, atherosclerosis was until recently viewed as a disease of passive cholesterol accumulation in the subendothelial space. This view has been supplanted by considerable basic scientific and clinical evidence demonstrating that every step of atherogenesis, from the development of endothelial cell dysfunction to foam cell formation, plaque formation and progression, and ultimately plaque rupture stemming from architectural instability, is driven by the cytokines, interleukins, and cellular constituents of the inflammatory response. "

Isn't it amzing how inter-connected every facet of health and well-being is?