Chinese guidelines for the diagnosis and treatment of hospital-acquired pneumonia and ventilator-associated pneumonia in adults (2018 Edition)

Hospital-acquired pneumonia (HAP) and ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) are the most common hospital-acquired infections in China. The difficulty in diagnosis and treatment of HAP/VAP leads to high mortality. In China, it has been nearly two decades since the initial “Guideline for the Diagnosis and Treatment of Hospital-acquired Pneumonia (draft)” was published in 1999 (1). Afterwards, a number of guidelines for HAP/VAP have been published or updated at home and abroad (2-10). The definitions of HAP/VAP have been changing as more and more relevant researches available highlighting greater details. Moreover, there are growing evidence in the epidemiology, etiology, clinical diagnosis and treatment of HAP/VAP, especially the accumulating evidence from the researches in China, which shows that the distribution and antibiotic resistance rate of HAP/VAP pathogens in China are largely different from the data reported in other countries. Therefore, it is necessary to amend the initial guideline in 1999 accordingly in order to better guide clinical practice.