Hi,
You don't seem to be having the usual bacterial infection. By the duration of time of treatment and the medication Rimafin which is most likely
Rifampin, it looks like you have the
Mycobacterium infection that takes very long to treat.
MAC stands for Mycobacterium Avium complex for which 11 to 12 months of treatment is needed with usually 2 to 3 different types of antibiotics. Taking all the medication , on time , for the full duration of treatment is very important. Discontinuing in the middle will cause the medication to stop effecting the bacteria which we call as resistance. Thus, it is crucial that you keep taking the medication on time so that it could rid you of this bacterial infection.
With
MAC infection, it will be important to know what other problems you also have like
diabetes or are you on any other medication for a long period of time, because MAC infection mostly effects people with reduced immunity to infections. Therefore it is important to check for other diseases also going on which needs attention like diabetes etc that reduces immunity.
I hope this answers your questions. In case you have any more questions, feel free to contact us in writing.
Regards,
Dr. Talal Hussain, General & Family Physician