Table of Contents
- Overview
- Symptoms
- Treatment
- Prevention
- Images
Hospital-acquired pneumonia is an infection of the lungs that occurs during a hospital stay.
Alternative Names
Nosocomial pneumonia; Ventilator-associated pneumonia; Health-care associated pneumonia
Causes, incidence, and risk factors
Hospital-acquired pneumonia tends to be more serious than other lung infections, because:
- Patients in the hospital are often sicker and unable to fight off germs.
- The types of germs present in a hospital are often more dangerous than those encountered in the community.
Hospital-acquired pneumonia occurs more often in patients who are using a respirator machine (also called a ventilator) to help them breathe. When pneumonia occurs in a patient who is on a ventilator, it is known as ventilator-associated pneumonia.
Risk factors for hospital-acquired pneumonia include:
Alcoholism - Being on a breathing machine
- Breathing saliva or food into the lungs (
aspiration ) - Chest surgery
-
Immunosuppression (immune system does not work well) - Long-term (chronic) lung disease
- Not being fully alert
- Older age
- Recent illness
Review Date: 02/19/2011
Reviewed By: Linda J. Vorvick, MD, Medical Director, MEDEX Northwest Division of
Physician Assistant Studies, University of Washington, School of
Medicine; and Denis Hadjiliadis, MD, Assistant Professor of
Medicine, Division of Pulmonary, Allergy and Critical Care,
Unviersity of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA. Also reviewed by
David Zieve, MD, MHA, Medical Director, A.D.A.M., Inc.
A.D.A.M., Inc. is accredited by URAC, also known as the American Accreditation HealthCare Commission (www.urac.org)
