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Improving oral health among hospitalised patients could significantly reduce the risk of developing pneumonia during their stay, a new study has found. <\/p>\n
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Hospital-acquired pneumonia is a lung infection that develops at least 48 hours after a patient is admitted to the hospital. It tends to be more serious than other lung infections, because the patients\u2019 immune systems are often weakened, and hospital pathogens are typically more resistant and virulent than those found in the community. <\/p>\n
The form of pneumonia included in the study \u2013 non-ventilator-associated hospital-acquired pneumonia (NV-HAP) \u2013 affects patients who are not on mechanical ventilation. <\/p>\n
By improving oral care in hospitals, the infection risk could drop by 60%, according to the results of a new clinical trial<\/a> presented at the European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (ESCMID) Global Congress 2026 in Munich<\/a>.<\/p>\n Hospital-acquired pneumonia in patients who are not on a ventilator is often the result of fluids from the mouth or throat entering the lungs, with hospital-associated respiratory pathogens more frequently detected in patients who are unable to clear oral secretions, according to Brett Mitchell, lead author of the study at Avondale University in Australia. <\/p>\n \u201cThese infections are thought to arise largely from a patient\u2019s own microbiota rather than person-to-person transmission. Improving oral hygiene helps reduce these pathogens in the mouth, potentially lowering the risk of subsequent infection,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n