| Summary: | Ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) occurs more than 48h after mechanical ventilation and is associated with a high mortality rate. The current hospital-based study aims to investigate the association between VAP rate, incidence of bacteremia from multidrug-resistant (MDR) pathogens, and infection control interventions in a single case mix ICU from 2013 to 2018. <b>Methods:</b> The following monthly indices were analyzed: (1) VAP rate; (2) use of hand hygiene disinfectants; (3) isolation rate of patients with MDR bacteria; and (4) incidence of bacteremia/1000 patient-days (total cases, total carbapenem-resistant cases, and carbapenem-resistant <i>Acinetobacter baumannii</i>, <i>Pseudomonas aeruginosa</i>, and <i>Klebsiella pneumoniae</i> cases separately). <b>Results:</b> Time trends of infection control interventions showed increased rates in isolation of patients with MDR pathogens (<i>p</i> <0.001) and consumption of hand disinfectant solutions (<i>p</i> =0.001). The last four years of the study an annual decrease of VAP rate by 35.12% (95% CI: −53.52 to −9.41; <i>p</i> =0.01) was recorded, which significantly correlated not only with reduced trauma and cardiothoracic surgery patients (IRR:2.49; 95% CI: 2.09–2.96; <i>p</i> <0.001), but also with increased isolation rate of patients with MDR pathogens (IRR: 0.52; 95% CI: 0.27–0.99; <i>p =</i> 0.048), and hand disinfectants use (IRR: 0.40; 95% CI: 0.18–0.89; <i>p</i> =0.024). <b>Conclusions:</b> Infection control interventions significantly contributed to the decrease of VAP rate. Constant infection control stewardship has a stable time-effect and guides evidence-based decisions.
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