DETECTION AND QUANTITATION OF THE ETIOLOGIC AGENTS OF VENTILATOR-ASSOCIATED PNEUMONIA IN ENDOTRACHEAL TUBE ASPIRATES FROM PATIENTS IN IRAN

Mohammad Rahbar, PhD; Massoud Hajia, PhD From the Department of Medical Microbiology, Research Center of Reference Laboratories of Iran, Tehran, Iran (both authors). Address reprint requests to Mohammad Rahbar, Department of Medical Microbiology, Research Center of Reference Laboratories of Iran, P.O. Box 16615‐135, Tehran, Iran (mhhf_rz@yahoo.com). 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‐associated pneumonia (VAP), which has an estimated annual incidence of 1%‐25% among hospitalized patients. Longer hospital stay, mortality, and morbidity are negative outcomes associated with VAP. The risk of pneumonia has been reported to be 6.5% among patients who receive ventilatory support for 10 days; this rate increases to 28% among patients who receive ventilatory support for 30 days.