There are approximately 2.4 million cases of Healthcare Associated Infections (HAIs) per year in US hospitals. Their most tragic cost is the 88,000 deaths they cause each year, either directly or indirectly. The cost of curing an HAI is:

Type	Cost
S. aureus1	$32,000
general2	$40,000
surgical-site3	$20,000

The cost of all HAIs in the US is about $4.5 billion per year.


References
1 Rubin et al., Emerging Infectious Diseases, 1999.
2 Pittet, Tarara, Wenzel, JAMA 1994.
3 Fraser, Infect Con Hosp Epi, 2002.