Bacterial etiology of respiratory infections associated with mechanical ventilation and its relationship with covid-19

At the end of 2019 until today, we live with the challenge faced by the Coronavirus pandemic. Added to this, many of the patients affected with this disease end up acquiring another disease called Mechanical Ventilation-Associated Pneumonia (VAP), still within the hospital environment, characterizing a Nosocomial Infection (NI), which makes the treatment for COVID-19 still more challenging. This study aimed to analyze the risk associated with mechanical ventilation and the most prevalent etiological agents in patients with COVID-19, emphasizing the intrinsic and extrinsic risk factors related to this infection. This is an integrative literary review study, descriptive literature and a qualitative approach. For this, a survey of information was carried out in books and scientific articles available on online platforms. The results obtained demonstrate the existence of a relationship between infection by COVID-19 and bacterial infections, with a prevalence that reaches 7% (increasing to 14% if only patients in intensive care are taken into account). These infections are considered one of the most common complications in patients undergoing mechanical ventilation, and their main etiological agents are the microorganisms Acinetobacter baumanii, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Klebsiella pneumoniae. The present article concludes that, although cases of bacterial coinfections are identified in the diagnosis of COVID-19, these are rare in the hospital environment. However, the inappropriate prescription of antibiotics in these patients led to more severe conditions of the disease, especially in cases of mechanical ventilation and ventilator-associated pneumonia.