Additional costs for preventing the spread of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus and a strategy for reducing these costs on a surgical ward.

Objective: To determine the added costs of hygienic measures (barrier precautions, isolation, and decontamination) required for MRSA carriers in German hospitals and possible strategies for cost reduction.

Design: On a septic surgical ward caring for 35% of all MRSA cases in a university hospital (1,182 beds), additional costs for personnel time and materials were calculated and medical charts of all MRSA cases admitted to the ward during 1 year were analyzed retrospectively. Twelve of the ward's 13 beds were located in rooms with at least 2 beds.