Mortality, incidence, and microbiological documentation of ventilated acquired pneumonia (VAP) in critically ill patients with COVID-19 or influenza

Abstract Background Data on ventilator associated pneumonia (VAP) in COVID-19 and influenza patients admitted to intensive care units (ICU) are scarce. This study aimed to estimate day-60 mortality related to VAP in ICU patients ventilated for at least 48 h, either for COVID-19 or for influenza, and to describe the epidemiological characteristics in each group of VAP. Design Multicentre retrospective observational study. Setting Eleven ICUs of the French OutcomeRea™ network. Patients Patients treated with invasive mechanical ventilation (IMV) for at least 48 h for either COVID-19 or for flu. Results Of the 585 patients included, 503 had COVID-19 and 82 had influenza between January 2008 and June 2021. A total of 232 patients, 209 (41.6%) with COVID-19 and 23 (28%) with influenza, developed 375 VAP episodes. Among the COVID-19 and flu patients, VAP incidences for the first VAP episode were, respectively, 99.2 and 56.4 per 1000 IMV days (p