A recent study from researchers at Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston found that the five most common healthcare related infections costs the U.S. healthcare system almost $10 billion per year.
The study, published in JAMA Internal Medicine, examined data collected from 1986 to April 2013 from published literature, and found that central line-associated bloodstream infection are the most costly on a case-to-case basis, costing $45,814 a year, and representing about 34% of the total number of HAIs in the U.S. Ventilator-associated pneumonia was second, at $40,144. Finishing the list was surgical site infections at $20,785, c. difficile infections at $11,285, and catheter-associated urinary tract infections at $896.