PNEUMONIA DUE TO HAEMOPHILUS-INFLUENZAE AMONG MECHANICALLY VENTILATED PATIENTS - INCIDENCE, OUTCOME, AND RISK-FACTORS

Incidence and potential risk factors for pneumonia due to Haemophilus influenzae in adults treated with mechanical ventilation in a medical-surgical ICU were investigated. Diagnosis was established in 91 episodes and H influenzae was isolated in 20 of them. Mean onset of ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) due to H influenzae was 10.8 days after intubation. Six patients with H influenzae VAP died in the ICU. Of 13 risk factors for developing VAP due to H influenzae, an absence of prior antibiotic treatment was the only variable which had statistical significance (p<0.001). In these mechanically ventilated patients, Haemophilus influenzae was a common causative agent for VAP, frequently associated with Gram-positive cocci. Episodes of H influenzae VAP were associated with a lower mortality compared with other etiologies. The epidemiologic and clinical findings indicate that patients without a prior antimicrobial treatment have increased susceptibility to infections of the airway by H influenzae.