Initial Bacterial Colonization in Patients Admitted to a Respiratory Intensive Care Unit:Bacteriological Pattern and Risk Factors

Abstract

Colonization of the trachea with c-PPMs was already present in every 5th and with h-PPMs in every 10th intubated patient during the first 24 h of RICU admission even in the absence of parenchymal infections. Hospitalization more than 48 h prior to RICU admission was a risk factor of colonization with h-PPMs.