To investigate the impact of 1-week ventilator circuit change on ventilator-associated pneumonia and its cost-effectiveness compared with a 2-day change.

An observational cohort study.

A tertiary level neonatal intensive care unit in a university-affiliated teaching hospital in Taiwan.

All neonates in the neonatal intensive care unit receiving invasive intubation for more than 1 week from July 1, 2011, through December 31, 2013.

We investigated the impact of 2 ventilator circuit change regimens, either every 2 days or 7 days, on ventilator-associated pneumonia of our cohort.

A total of 361 patients were maintained on mechanical ventilators for 13,981 days. The 2 groups did not differ significantly in any demographic characteristics. The rate of ventilator-associated pneumonia was comparable between the 2-day group and the 7-day group (8.2 vs 9.5 per 1,000 ventilator-days, P=.439). The durations of mechanical ventilation and hospital stay, and rates of bloodstream infection and mortality, were also comparable between the 2 groups. Switching from a 2-day to a 7-day change policy would save our neonatal intensive care unit a yearly sum of US $29,350 and 525 working hours.

Decreasing the frequency of ventilator circuit changes from every 2 days to once per week is safe and cost-effective in neonates requiring prolonged intubation for more than 1 week.

Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol 2014;00(0): 1–7

Voriconazole is a broad-spectrum azole exhibiting strong anti-Aspergillus activity and good long-term tolerance. However, the evidence for voriconazole efficacy against refractory Aspergillus otomycosis is weak.

We reviewed the medical records of patients with Aspergillus otomycosis treated with voriconazole from January 2008 to June 2012 in a Taiwanese regional hospital. Demographic data and information regarding underlying diseases, clinical features, treatment and outcome were assessed.

In total, 14 cases of Aspergillus otomycosis were treated with voriconazole, including 5 patients with Aspergillus invasive otitis externa. All patients had failed to respond to local treatment, antibiotics or topical agents. One case was lost to follow up. The symptoms of two patients recurred after voriconazole treatment: one patient received a second 12-week course of voriconazole and was cured; and symptoms of the other patient recurred after a second 12-week course of voriconazole, leading to surgical debridement. The remaining 11 patients were cured by voriconazole treatment without extensive surgical debridement.

This study demonstrates that voriconazole can be a very effective and convenient therapeutic option for the management of refractory Aspergillus otomycosis.