Ventilator-Associated Pneumonia in Neonates Admitted to a Tertiary Care NICU in Bulgaria.

Ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) is the second most common hospital-acquired infection (HAI) among neonatal patients in the intensive care units (ICUs) and is a serious challenge for neonatologists because it affects critically ill patients who need prolonged mechanical ventilation. In Bulgaria, there is no detailed data at regional and national levels on the characteristics of VAP in newborns, which imposes a necessity for specific studies of risk factors and etiology of VAP. The aim of the study was to analyze the frequency, characteristics and risk factors for the occurrence of VAP in newborns hospitalized in intensive care unit.