Why is VAP such a concern and what are some of the risk factors for this nosocomial infection?
VAP is hospital-acquired pneumonia that patients may develop after being placed on a mechanical ventilator. For the pneumonia to be classified as VAP, it must not have been present or incubating within a patient at the time of intubation and ventilator placement. The symptoms of pneumonia are similar regardless of whether a patient is being mechanically ventilated. They include cough, unless suppressed; productive, purulent sputum; a chest X-ray indicative of pneumonia; and possible temperature of more than 100.4 degrees F; elevated or depressed white blood cell count; and/or mental confusion. The development of VAP is a concern, and prevention of VAP is essential because the mortality rate associated with this HAI can be very high. Up to 25 percent of ventilated patients who develop VAP can die from this potentially preventable event. Each year in the United States alone, more than 35,000 people die from HAP—more than from any other type of HAI. The cost of caring for patients with VA
