Costs of two vancomycin-resistant enterococci outbreaks in an academic hospital.

The main drivers of the costs were the opportunity costs due to the reduction in admitted patients, testing costs, and cleaning costs. Although the second outbreak was considerably shorter, the costs per day were similar to those of the first outbreak. Major investments are associated with the VRE control measures, and an outbreak of VRE can lead to considerable costs for a hospital. Aggressively screening and isolating patients who may be involved in an outbreak of VRE may reduce the overall costs and improve the continuity of care within the hospital.