Clinics in chest medicine
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The relationships between acute lung injury and bacterial infection are complex. Indeed, sepsis and in particular pneumonia are leading causes of acute lung injury. ⋯ Because of impaired host defenses and prolonged mechanical ventilation, more than one third of patients with the acute respiratory distress syndrome acquire ventilator-associated pneumonia, with resistant pathogens in most instances. This complication is responsible for more than a doubling of the time on mechanical ventilation but does not seem to increase mortality.