Pneumonia Due to Staphylococcus aureus During Mechanical Ventilation

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Abstract
The incidence of pneumonia due to S. aureus in patients treated with mechanical ventilation in an intensive-therapy unit was investigated in a prospective study. Of 295 ventilated patients treated during 1 yr, 17 developed S. aureus pneumonia and 26 developed colonization of lower airways by S. aureus. Neurosurgical patients treated with hyperventilation, sedation, cooling and steroids had a significantly higher frequency of S. aureus pneumonia (25.9%) and colonization (27.8%) compared with other ventilated patients (1.2% and 4.6%, respectively). The epidemiologic and clinical findings indicate that neurosurgical patients have an increased susceptibility to infections of airways with S. aureus.