Ventilator–associated pneumonia (VAP) is one of the top three infection concerns of clinicians today; it may account for up to 60% of all deaths from healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) in the U.S.¹ Other key U.S. statistics include:

• Approximately 8–28% of critical care patients develop VAP²
• Healthcare–associated pneumonia patients have a mortality rate of 20% to 33%¹
• VAP increases patient time in the ICU by 4 to 6 days¹
• Each incidence of VAP is estimated to generate an increased cost of $20,000 to $40,000¹

VAP is a global issue. In Germany, between 2001 and 2005, 5.72% of ICU patients developed VAP.³  According to recent statistics, 9.2% of ICU patients in France develop ICU–acquired pneumonia.⁴  And in the UK, hospital–acquired lower respiratory tract infection adds an average of 12 days to hospital stays, at an average additional cost of $4,149 per patient.⁵

The CDC's National Nosocomial Infection Surveillance System (NNIS) reported that in 2002, patients receiving continuous mechanical ventilation had 6–21 times the risk of developing healthcare–associated pneumonia compared with patients who were not receiving mechanical ventilation. Because of this tremendous risk, in the last two decades, most of the research on healthcare–associated pneumonia has been focused on VAP.⁶

<sub>1.CDC. Guidelines for Preventing Healthcare–Associated Pneumonia, 2003. Recommendations of the CDC and the Healthcare Infection Control Practices Advisory Committee. MMWR 2004; 53 (No. RR–3).
2.Chastre J, Fagon J. Ventilator–associated pneumonia. Crit Care Med. 2002; 165:867–903.
3.Source: KISS Krankenhaus–Infektions–Surveillance–System. Modul ITS–KISS. http://www.nrz-hygiene.de/dwnld/ITS_reference_200512.pdf
4.Source: HELICS Implementation Phase II, Final Report, March 2005
5.The Socio–economic Burden of Hospital Acquired Infection. Executive Summary. Public Health Laboratory Service. 1999
6. http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dhqp/dpac_ventilate.html</sub>