Hot Tubs Host Mycobacteria.

At the 2000 American Thoracic Society International Conference in Toronto, Canada, Cecile Rose of the National Jewish Medical and Research Center reported that two nontuberculosis mycobacteria, Mycobacteria avium and M. fortuitum, can grow in indoor hot tubs and cause lung disease in people who use them. Rose said that hot tub jets aerosolize the mycobacteria, allowing them to spread throughout a room.

Infection with these organisms can cause fever, fatigue, and weight loss. Rose explained that such infections are often misdiagnosed because they mimic other granulomatous lung diseases (characterized by microscopic lung growths called granulomas). Because indoor hot tubs are becoming more common, said Rose, awareness of the risks associated with their use also will become more common.