Ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) accounts for 60 percent of healthcare-associated infection (HAI) deaths. According to 2015 research from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), VAP accounts for 32 percent of all healthcare-related pneumonia cases. People on ventilators are often medically fragile, battling serious respiratory illnesses or chronic medical conditions. So the death rate for this form of pneumonia is extraordinarily high—between 20 and 33 percent, according to most estimates. Healthcare providers can take a number of proactive steps to protect their patients from this potentially lethal infection. 

A terrible flu season, the looming specter of a coronavirus outbreak, and the daily realities of localized infections all highlight the need for rigorous infection control. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issues annual infection control guidelines to reduce the risk of spreading potentially dangerous or even lethal illnesses. Many of these guidelines are common sense, and echo the things you learned in childhood about washing your hands and covering your cough. A friendly reminder of these guidelines may encourage you and your team to redouble your infection prevention strategies, especially because doing so requires little additional effort.