These evidence-based guidelines have been produced after a systematic literature review of a range of issues involving prevention, diagnosis and treatment of hospital-acquired pneumonia (HAP). Prevention is structured into sections addressing general issues, equipment, patient procedures and the environment, whereas in treatment, the structure addresses the use of antimicrobials in prevention and treatment, adjunctive therapies and the application of clinical protocols. The sections dealing with diagnosis are presented against the clinical, radiological and microbiological diagnosis of HAP. Recommendations are also made upon the role of invasive sampling and quantitative microbiology of respiratory secretions in directing antibiotic therapy in HAP/ventilator-associated pneumonia.

Contributorship and guarantor: MJ conceptualised this article, undertook the literature search and is guarantor. JC used her knowledge of chest radiology to inform the content of the article and sourced the images. JP used his knowledge of assessment and management of covid-19 patients to inform the article. MJ, JC, and JP drafted and checked the final article. Patient consent:We considered seeking individual consent to use radiological images. However, as patients with covid-19 are ill and an infectious risk, obtaining consent was not possible. We approached the hospital ethics committee chair, Trust R&D, and Data Protection lead for permission to use anonymised radiological images without specific consent. They agreed this was acceptable.

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The presence of lobulated or irregular contour, areas of low attenuation, and multifocal calcification is suggestive of invasive thymoma.