Impact of Immune Status on Secondary Infections in Patients With Acute Respiratory Failure

As a reference center, Charité Universitaetsmedizin Berlin has been treating patients with the most severe form of acute respiratory failure, known as acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), for more than 30 years. Despite lung-protective forms of ventilation and the use of extracorporeal procedures for oxygenation and decarboxylation (ECMO), mortality is around forty percent. In addition to the primary cause of ARDS, further infectious complications often develop during the course of the disease, which delay recovery. The aim of this study is to investigate infectious complications (ventilator-associated pneumonia, reactivation of Herpes viridae, pathogen resistance despite formally correct therapy, fungal infections) depending on the immune status.