Atypical Mycobacterial Infection Caused by Mycobacterium marinum

To the Editor: The increasing prevalence of AIDS has heightened interest in atypical mycobacterial infections. 1 Mycobacterium avium complex is the usual cause in patients with AIDS. 2 3 4 M. marinum, which typically causes a self-limited, cutaneous infection, is widely known as swimming-pool granuloma because of its early association with public pools. 5 It was first isolated and described, however, as an agent responsible for the deaths of saltwater fish kept in aquariums. 6 Recent reviews of mycobacterial infections in patients with AIDS fail to mention M. marinum. 7 , 8 A 50-year-old HIV-positive man presented with achy joints and numerous sores and boils on his chest, extremities, . . .