as a hospital-acquired infection (HAI), ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) is associated with additional complications for patients in the pediatric intensive (PICU). Despite the volume of published information on VAP in adults,
the amount of research on VAP in children is limited. Health care providers need to be aware of the risk for VAP in infants and children and should have preventive pro-
grams in place. Evidence-based protocols that outline preventive and therapeutic treatments for specific situations for adults treated with mechanical ventilation have been developed, but little has been offered for the care of children receiving mechanical ventilation.