Kivonat:
The nosocomial infections are the main causes of extra charges in health care and they belong to questions of patient safety. About 30 percent of health care associated infections can be prevented effectively with infection control and adequate screening methods. Nowadays, the meticillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus is the main nosocomial pathogen. The protective measure against this bacterium is well known, thus, it was chosen for our present cost /benefit calculations. We counted the costs of the epidemic caused by Staphylococcus aureus resistant to meticillin in the Aladar Petz County Teaching Hospital, Gyor, in a two-year period, and calculated the costs of the screening method. We compared our results with the published data. Screening methods are much cheaper than to cure the patient, who suffered from nosocomial infection. Therefore the prevention has an essential importance.