An Empirical Approach to the Treatment of Multidrug-Resistant Ventilator-Associated Pneumonia

There is a general consensus that anti-microbial resistance in the hospital setting has emerged as an important variable that influences patient outcomes and overall use of resources [1–3]. Hospitals worldwide are faced with increasingly rapid emergence and spread of antibi-otic-resistant bacteria. Antibiotic-resistant strains of both gram-negative bacilli and gram-positive bacteria are reported to be important causes of hospital-acquired infection, including ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) [4, 5]. In many cases, few antimicrobial agents remain available for effective treatment, particularly wit