Pearls and Pitfalls
Nosocomial pneumonia is the second most common nosocomial infection (after urinary tract infections) and represents the leading cause of nosocomial morbidity and mortality.
Patients on mechanical ventilation have the highest risk of nosocomial pneumonia. Other patient populations at increased risk of pneumonia include burn, trauma, and cardiothoracic surgery patients.
The term nosocomial pneumonia includes hospital-acquired pneumonia, ventilator-associated pneumonia, and health care-associated pneumonia. Health care-associated pneumonia is a newly described subset of nosocomial pneumonia that develops in patients who are not in the hospital at the time of onset but have had contact with the health care system up to 90 days prior to onset of pneumonia.
Bacteria cause the majority of nosocomial pneumonia. Fungi are very uncommon causes of nosocomial pneumonia but can occur in immunocompromised hosts. Viruses, such as influenza, also may also cause nosocomial outbreaks.
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Sampathkumar, P. (2009). Nosocomial Pneumonia. In: Bland, K.I., Büchler, M.W., Csendes, A., Sarr, M.G., Garden, O.J., Wong, J. (eds) General Surgery. Springer, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-84628-833-3_27
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-84628-833-3_27
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