Research previously performed in the studied PICU
before the start of present study showed that the mean
overall patient health care-associated infection rate in the
PICU was 27.2 per 1000 discharges. The rate of VAP per
1000 devices was 18.7. Patients without health careassociated
infections had a mean hospitalization length of
4.1 days; patients with health care-associated infections
were hospitalized for 15.7 days (Abramczyk et al., 2003).
Advanced care has allowed successful treatment of
patients with severe illnesses in intensive care units.
However, these patients are often susceptible to respiratory
infection due to the effects of underlying diseases,
therapies and invasive monitoring on the immune system