Fight against Ventilator-Associated Pneumonia....

In continuation of my update on "Pneumonia and its prevention..."

When I read an article from  Emedicine,  was surprised to see the analysis by the author. I quote the following lines...

 Hospital-acquired pneumonia (HAP) is pneumonia that develops 48 hours or longer after admission to a hospital.

• Ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) is pneumonia that develops 48 hours or longer after mechanical ventilation is given by means of an endotracheal tube or tracheostomy.
• Health care–associated pneumonia is pneumonia that occurs in persons in one of the following groups:
  • Patients who have been hospitalized in an acute care facility for 2 or more days within 90 days of the infection
  • Residents of a nursing home or long-term care facility
  • Patients who received intravenous antibiotic therapy, chemotherapy, or wound care within the last 30 days of the current infection
  • Patients who receive hemodialysis in any setting

HAP is the second most common nosocomial infection. HAP increases a patient's hospital stay by approximately 7-9 days and can increase hospital costs by an average of $40,000 per patient. and 

 Frequency

VAP is a complication in as many as 28% of patients who receive mechanical ventilation. The incidence of VAP increases with the duration of mechanical ventilation. Estimated rates are 3% per day for the first 5 days, 2% per day for days 6-10, and 1% per day after day 10.

Mortality/Morbidity

The crude mortality rate for VAP is 27-76%. Pseudomonas or Acinetobacter pneumonia is associated with increased mortality rates compared with other organisms. Studies have consistently shown that a delay in starting appropriate and adequately dosed antibiotic therapy increases the mortality risk...

We had "International Infection Prevention Week" a forth night ago,  but still we need to create awareness about such infections.   I think we need to give due importance for VAP too. Though,  there are many organizations, which are trying to create awareness and solutions for this problem, I find Kimberly Clark corporation's efforts really  interesting and  commendable. So let us join hands with the corporation to spread the awareness....

One can get more info with the link :

http://vap.kchealthcare.com