In response to «Oral care with chlorhexidine: One size does not fit all»

Dear Editor,

We appreciate the comments by Llaurado-Serra et al. in relation to the article “Update on the recommendations of the Zero Pneumonia project” published in 2022 in Enfermería Intensiva.1

In response to your comments, we would like to make some clarifications. On the one hand, we feel we need to clarify that the updating of the Zero Pneumonia (NZ) recommendations, together with those of the rest of the Zero Projects (PZ), is due to the negative impact of the SARS-Cov-2 pandemic on the application of PZ recommendations and the infection rates monitored in ICUs,2 as well as the need to review and adapt the recommendations made in 2011.

In these recommendations, and as part of the NZ Bundle, the measure of oral hygiene with chlorhexidine in intubated patients had already been included, after having demonstrated its efficacy nationwide in reducing rates of pneumonia associated with mechanical ventilation (NAVM) in Intensive Care Units (ICUs).3

CITA DEL ARTÍCULO  Enferm Intensiva (Engl Ed). 2023 Oct-Dec;34(4):228-229. doi: 10.1016/j.enfie.2023.08.002. Epub 2023 Sep 22.