Ventilator associated Pneumonia (VAP) is the second most common nosocomial infection in hospitals. Timely diagnosis and appropriate treatment will greatly decrease the mortality and morbidity. To potentially improve the specificity of the diagnosis of VAP and the consequent unnecessary antibiotic use and its associated problems, the role of quantitative cultures of respiratory secretions is pivotal Aims and objectives: To diagnose ventilator associated pneumonia by using quantitative endotracheal aspiration cultures and to identify the bacterial pathogens and determine the antimicrobial susceptibility pattern of those pathogens. Materials and methods: A prospective study was done which included 183 suspected cases of Ventilator associated pneumonia in SVS Medical College and Hospital for a period of one year and nine months. Quantitative endotracheal aspirate culture was done for all the samples, etiological agents were identified and antibiotic susceptibility was determined. Results: Out of 183 samples 102 samples (55.7%) have shown significant number of colonies by quantitative cultures. Gram negative organisms isolated predominantly (89.2%) followed by gram positive organisms (10.7%). Most common organism isolated was Acinetobacter baumanii (31.3%) followed by Klebsiella pneumoniae (24.5%). In early onset VAP Klebsiella pneumonia was the most common while in late onset Acinetobacter baumanii was the most common. Multidrug resistance was common in all the isolates with Acinetobacter baumanii topping the list. Carbapenem resistance was observed in 40.6% of Acinetobacter baumanii whereas in K. pneumoniae it is only 12%. Polymyxin B and colistin are the most susceptible drugs for Acinetobacter and Pseudomonas whereas in enterobacteriace (E. coli and K. pneumoniae) tigecycline was the best drug (0% resistance) followed by Imipenem (12% and 13.3% resistance respectively). Among S. aureus, Methicillin resistance was observed in 66.6% of cases all the S. aureus were sensitive to vancomycin, linezolid and tigecycline. Conclusion, Ventilator associated pneumonia continuous to be an important challenge to the critical care physician as well as microbiologist both for treatment and diagnosis. A high index of clinical suspicion along with early and prompt diagnosis by using various parameters that include quantitative endotracheal cultures is of utmost importance in appropriate management of the patients, which further decrease the mortality and morbidity along with decrease in the cost associated with the treatment of these infections.

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