An Outbreak of Mycobacterium abscessus at a Pediatric Dental Clinic

In 2016, three children in California developed severe maxillofacial infections that failed to respond to standard antibiotic therapy. After one patient was found to have Mycobacterium abscessus infection, it was noted that all three had undergone pulpotomy procedures at the same pediatric dental clinic; public health authorities conducted an investigation during which the clinic suspended performance of these procedures.

Among 1072 patients who had undergone pulpotomy between January and September 2016, 71 had confirmed or probable M. abscessus infection; of these, 70 were hospitalized for a mean of 8.5 days. CT imaging revealed that 19 had ≥3 pulmonary nodules. All patients required surgical intervention, and tissue culture of samples from…