Abstract
Although epidemiologic investigations of hospital-acquired pneumonia have certain
intrinsic limitations because of the heterogeneity of the study populations, the difficulties
in making a clinical diagnosis of nosocomial pneumonia, and the need for better microbiologic
assays, recent studies have provided new and important data concerning the role of
Staphylococcus aureus in this disease. This pathogen has now been identified as the most frequent cause
of nosocomial pneumonia in hospitals in both Europe and the United States among patients
in general hospital units as well as in the intensive care unit (ICU). Patients who
have been treated with mechanical ventilation are at especially high risk for S. aureus pneumonia. The incidence of nosocomial pneumonia related to methicillin-resistant
S. aureus (MRSA) has increased in recent years in many countries, especially among patients
in the ICU. Because hospitalized patients with suspected nosocomial pneumonia often
have many risk factors for MRSA infection, it seems advisable to include coverage
of MRSA in the initial therapeutic regimen for these patients until MRSA infection
is excluded.
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© 1998 Excerpta Medica Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
