Treating methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus is as expensive as treating staph infections that are not drug resistant, contrary to previous research, according to a study published in Clinical Infectious Diseases.
Researchers conducted a retrospective analysis of data obtained from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality's National Inpatient Sample between 2010 and 2014.
The study shows treatment costs for MRSA-related pneumonia were approximately $38,500 in 2014 versus $40,700-plus for methicillin-susceptible Staphylococcus aureus-related pneumonias.
Additionally, treatments costs for non-pneumonia hospitalizations related to staph infections were $14,792 for MRSA-related infections as compared to $15,578 for MSSA-related infections in 2014. The cost differences between MSSA-and MRSA-related pneumonia hospitalizations rose from 25.8 percent in 2010 to 31 percent in 2014.
"The lower costs for treating drug-resistant infections were a surprise," said Trish Perl-DeLisle, MD, chief of infectious diseases at Dallas-based UT Southwestern Medical Center and a co-author of the study. "The findings are contrary to previous predictions and studies that suggested the treatment costs for drug-resistant infections would be greater."