Prevention of pneumonia in the hospital setting.

Although the optimal approach to reducing ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) is unclear, recent studies indicate that mandatory education of health care workers caring for mechanically ventilated patients can decrease overall VAP rates. Among the available interventions, shortening the duration of mechanical ventilation and providing measures to prevent the aspiration of contaminated secretions are most important. Given the evidence supporting greater morbidity, hospital mortality, and medical care costs among patients who have VAP, the prevention of this nosocomial infection should be an important priority in the hospital setting.