Drug Prevention and Control of Ventilator-Associated Pneumonia

Ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) is the second most common nosocomial infection and the leading cause of death from nosocomial infections in critically ill patients, globally. Its incidence ranges from 5% to 67% depending on case mix and the diagnostic criteria used, and the highest rates are in immunocompromised, surgical, and elderly patients. It is estimated that VAP may be responsible for ~27–47% of intensive care unit (ICU) acquired infections. The clinical and economic burden of VAP remains high and the application of existing VAP prevention strategies is variable but disappointing. Therefore, a simple, inexpensive, and safe prevention strategy will contribute to the decrease of VAP occurrence rate and corresponding burden. The pathogenesis of VAP is complicated; however, it typically involves the colonization of upper aerodigestive tract with pathogenic bacteria and the leakage of contaminated oropharyngeal secretions into the lung. Numerous studies have assessed various strategies of VAP prevention which can be classified into pharmacologic and non-pharmacologic interventions. In this
Research Topic, we want to discuss the pharmacologic interventions in order to provide a comprehensive evidences for clinical practice in VAP.

The scope of this Research Topic is the pharmacologic interventions for prevention and/or control of VAP. The types of study that will be accepted are clinical trials (including real word studies), translational animal studies, systematic reviews (including meta-analyses), clinical practice guidelines, modelling studies, pharmacoeconomic studies, methodological studies, and drug resistance studies and must fit within one of the accepted article types for Respiratory Pharmacology. Anyone who is interested in this topic, please contact us.