Antibiotic Strategy for Ventilator-Associated Respiratory Infections
A special issue of Antibiotics (ISSN 2079-6382). This special issue belongs to the section "Antibiotic Therapy in Infectious Diseases".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 June 2026 | Viewed by 150
Special Issue Editor
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Ventilator-associated lower respiratory tract (LRT) infections continue to pose a significant clinical and research challenge in intensive care medicine. Ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) remains one of the most serious nosocomial infections in critically ill patients, associated with prolonged mechanical ventilation, longer hospital stays, higher healthcare costs, and excess mortality. Despite advances in preventive measures, significant knowledge gaps persist regarding optimal diagnosis, the utility of new molecular diagnostic tests, the role of risk factors and prior colonization in selecting the best empirical treatment, and the importance of preserving anaerobic flora in its management whenever possible.
Referring to ventilator-associated tracheobronchitis (VAT), its clinical relevance, impact on outcomes, and the indication for antibiotic treatment remain subjects of ongoing debate. The overlap of clinical and microbiological criteria between VAT and VAP further complicates bedside decision-making. Although biomarkers, such as procalcitonin, have been proposed to guide diagnosis and therapy, available evidence suggests that their ability to clearly discriminate between VAT, VAP, and colonization is limited.
In both cases, the increase in multidrug-resistant microorganisms makes it especially difficult to adjust the duration of treatment and to know whether the combination of two or more antibiotics improves the results or not.
We invite researchers and clinicians to submit original research articles, systematic reviews, and translational or methodological studies addressing ventilator-associated respiratory infections in critically ill patients.
Dr. Fernando Martínez-Sagasti
Guest Editor
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Keywords
- ventilator-associated pneumonia
- ventilator-associated tracheobronchitis
- biomarkers
- antimicrobial stewardship
- rapid diagnostic tests
- multidrug-resistant microorganisms
- difficult-to-treat microorganisms
- combined antibiotic treatment
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