Background:
Ventilator- associated pneumonia (VAP) continues to complicate the course of 8-28 % patients receiving mechanical ventilation. The mortality rate for VAP is high, ranges from 24-50% and can reach 76% in some specific settings or when lung infection is caused by high risk pathogens. The etiologic agents widely differ according to the population of patients in an intensive care unit, duration of hospital stay, and prior antimicrobial therapy. Because appropriate antimicrobial treatment of patients with VAP significantly improves outcome, more rapid identification of infected patients and selection of antimicrobial agents represent important clinical goals. Our goal was determination of the VAP incidence, identification of common pathogenic causes and determination of antimicrobial resistance pattern by disk-diffusion and E.Test methods.