Prevalence of microorganisms in ventilator-related lung infections in patients with Covid and without Covid in a reference center in the northwest of São Paulo

Introduction: Ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) is one of the main infections present in intensive care units (ICUs) worldwide, accounting for approximately 80% of cases of nosocomial pneumonia. In this context, the current COVID-19 disease pandemic, caused by SARS-CoV2, has generated an extremely significant increase in the number of patients admitted to ICUs in recent years since the end of 2019. Objective: To identify the most common microorganisms in ventilator-associated pneumonia in patients with and without Covid and to compare the microorganisms causing ventilator-associated pneumonia in patients with and without Covid. Methodology: This is a retrospective observational study carried out by collecting information from medical records present in the Medical and Statistical Archive Service of Hospital Emílio Carlos and Hospital Padre Albino de Catanduva / SP. The medical records of patients with pulmonary infection due to the use of invasive mechanical ventilatory support from January 2020 to December 2021 will be analyzed, comparing the causative microorganisms in those patients infected and not infected with SARS-CoV-2. Results: Ninety patients who had tracheal aspirate/bronchoalveolar lavage culture were analyzed. Of these, 40 patients had Acinetobacter baumanni identified in the culture, and 24 patients had Klebsiella pneumoniae. The others varied between Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Stenotrophomonas maltophilia, Proteus mirabilis, among other microorganisms. In addition, the most frequent microorganisms in the culture and their relationship with Covid were analyzed, and it was observed that of the 40 patients with Acinetobacter baumanni in culture, 29 had Covid, and of the 24 patients with positive culture for Klebsiella pneumoniae, 14 had Covid. Conclusion: Finally, our work covers an important topic in the hospital setting: pulmonary infections during hospitalization, raising a relevant discussion to prevent and identify microorganisms early in search of a good outcome for the patient.