An institutional mattress includes a resilient core and a mattress covering sealing the core. The mattress covering has a ticking with a base fabric made of yarns with a denier value of at least 500 and has a thread count of at least 18 threads per inch in both warp and fill. The ticking is bonded to a fluid proof material having an anti-microbial agent. The core may be fire resistant polymeric foam and the ticking base fabric may be 1050 denier "ballistic" nylon. The ticking base fabric may be coated with urethane having at least one of a flame retardant and an anti-microbial, and then laminated with a polyurethane film. Alternatively, the ticking base fabric may be treated with a flame retardant covered with a fluid proof material. The mattress covering may be sealed around the core with stitching.