Severe sepsis and septic shock were defined as sepsis with the addition of organ dysfunction or the clinical diagnosis of arterial hypotension, which may or may not have been responsible for the aggressive fluid resuscitation. The diagnoses of Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection and atypical mycobacterial infection were confirmed using fluorescence, the Ziehl-Neelsen techniques and a Lowenstein-Jensen culture. The proportion method and biochemistry were used to identify all of the positive cultures.