Before responding to the statement of Chang et al, we have to clarify the following definitions of nosocomial infection, healthcare-associated infections, and healthcare-associated pneumonia (HCAP). Otherwise, the readers will be misled. First, in the definition of the Center for Disease Control, R.O.C. (Taiwan), “nosocomial infection” has been replaced with “healthcare-associated infections,” ...

Since 1989, 12 registration trials have been submitted to the US Food and Drug Administration to support the clinical efficacy of 8 antibacterial drugs for the treatment of nosocomial pneumonia. Six trials used noninferiority designs, whereas the others were equivalence trials or lacked a prespecified hypothesis. Patients with nosocomial pneumonia and ventilator-associated pneumonia were freque...

TO THE EDITOR—Pneumonia is the second most common nosocomial infection, accounting for approximately 18% of such infections. The mortality rate associated with nosocomial pneumonia can be decreased from 91.6% to approximately 30.5% if appropriate treatment is instituted. Critically ill patients who require mechanical ventilation support are at especially high risk of developing ventilator-assoc...

The incidence of nosocomial pneumonia involving methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus strains (MRSA) is on the rise worldwide. For years, vancomycin has been used as the drug of choice in the treatment of MRSA infections and was recommended as such by clinical guidelines. There is growing evidence that vancomycin, despite low resistance rates is a suboptimal therapeutic option in critical...

INTRODUCTION Several guidelines recommend initial empirical treatment with two antibiotics instead of one to decrease mortality in community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) requiring intensive-care-unit (ICU) admission. We compared the impact on 60-day mortality of using one or two antibiotics. We also compared the rates of nosocomial pneumonia and multidrug-resistant bacteria. METHODS This is an ob...

Hospital-acquired pneumonia (HAP) is a frequent cause of nosocomial infections, responsible for great morbidity and mortality worldwide. The majority of studies on HAP have been conducted in patients hospitalized in the intensive care unit (ICU), as mechanical ventilation represents a major risk factor for nosocomial pneumonia and specifically for ventilator-associated pneumonia. However, epide...

Severe cases of acute exacerbations of chronic bronchitis (AECB) and communityacquired pneumonia (CAP) are included in Lower respiratory tract infections (LRTIs) also involve hospital acquired pneumonia (HAP); the latter consists of ventilatorassociated pneumonia (VAP) and healthcare-associated pneumonia (HCAP) (Grossman et al., 2005). P. aeruginosa is one of the most common gram-negative bacte...

BACKGROUND Although diabetes mellitus is known as a major risk factor for Klebsiella pneumoniae infection, the differences in clinical characteristics between community-acquired and nosocomial K. pneumoniae bacteremia in diabetic patients have been rarely reported. METHODS This retrospective analysis enrolled 193 adult diabetic patients with K. pneumoniae bacteremia hospitalized between Janua...

Hospital Physician September 2007 47 H ospital-acquired pneumonia (HAP) is defined as pneumonia that develops 48 hours or more after hospital admission, which was not incubating at the time of admission (Table 1). Ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) refers to pneumonia that develops more than 48 to 72 hours after endotracheal intubation. Postoperative pneumonia is HAP or VAP that occurs in a ...

This article will critically review the evidence linking pneumonia to the aspiration of microbe-laden oropharyngeal secretions and tie that to the predisposition for these processes to affect dependent, medically compromised individuals. The goal of this review is to alert the reader to the role that oral disease and oral health play in fostering and preventing, respectively, widespread and pot...