Ventilator-Associated Pneumonia

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Hospitalization with ventilator-associated pneumonia increased 50% between 2013 and 2019, according to a study presented at CHEST Annual Meeting.

In a new study, ventilator-associated pneumonia-related mortality was higher among patients with COVID-19 compared with those without COVID-19, with more than 9% of overall mortality attributable to ventilator-associated pneumonia.

Among more than 160,000 patients admitted to University of North Carolina hospitals during a recent 5-year period, non-device-associated, or ND, pneumonia was implicated in three of every four nosocomial pneumonia cases, with more than 60% occurring outside the ICU, indicating a possible need to expand infection prevention programs to include non-ventilated patients, researchers said.

A 2-day course of prophylactic antibiotic therapy lowered the incidence of early ventilator-associated pneumonia among patients treated with target temperature management after out-of-hospital cardiac arrest, according to results from the ANTHARTIC trial.

HHS’s Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority, or BARDA, will provide up to $20.7 million over 2 years to VenatoRx Pharmaceuticals as part of a cost-sharing contract to develop an antibiotic to combat drug-resistant infections, the pharmaceutical company announced.