Historically, the relationship between the ventilator circuit and pulmonary infection was accepted as fact, without any scientific evidence. Hence the term, "ventilator"-associated pneumonia. Recent evidence, however, has demonstrated that the major sources of pneumonia in the ventilated patient are colonization of the gastrointestinal tract, with subsequent aspiration around the endotracheal t...

OBJECTIVE Ventilator-associated event surveillance was introduced in the National Healthcare Safety Network in 2013, replacing surveillance for ventilator-associated pneumonia in adult inpatient locations. We determined incidence rates and characteristics of ventilator-associated events reported to the National Healthcare Safety Network. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PATIENTS We analyzed data reported...

Identification of reliable, reproducible, and precise end points for future studies of hospital-acquired and ventilator-associated pneumonia is of paramount importance for approval of new therapeutic agents. As required by the Code of Federal Regulations 21 CFR 314.126, the methods of assessment of a subject's response (ie, end points) must be well defined and reliable. The study protocol and r...

The United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention replaced their longstanding ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) definitions with ventilator-associated event (VAE) definitions in 2013. Controversy abounds as to whether VAE definitions are potentially suitable to serve as quality indicators for ICUs. On the pro side, VAE definitions overcome many of the weaknesses of traditional VA...

Ventilator-associated pneumonia is a common nosocomial infection that results in both negative patient outcomes and increased health care costs. Recently, many efforts have been targeted at ventilator-associated pneumonia prevention, including the practice of subglottic secretion aspiration. Six randomized control studies examining the effectiveness of subglottic secretion aspiration in the pre...

Title: A comparison of microbiology and demographics among patients with healthcare-associated, hospital-acquired, and ventilator-associated pneumonia: a retrospective analysis of 1184 patients from a large, international study