The Use of High-Efficiency Particulate Air-Filter Respirators to Protect Hospital Workers from Tuberculosis -- A Cost-Effectiveness Analysis

Abstract
After outbreaks of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention proposed the use of respirators with high-efficiency particulate air filters (HEPA respirators) as part of isolation precautions against tuberculosis, along with a respiratory-protection program for health care workers that includes medical evaluation, training, and tests of the fit of the respirators. Each HEPA respirator costs between $7.51 and $9.08, about 10 times the cost of respirators currently used.