A new study has found that germs causing outbreaks in ordinary community settings are becoming more and more resistant and they are posing a growing threat, causing far more illnesses than they did in the past. For example, Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, or MRSA, a form of staph resistant to common antibiotics, has become a more prevalent problem in hospitals and other community settings that involve skin-to-skin-contact.

MRSA infection is caused by Staphylococcus aureus bacteria, a strain of staph that is resistant to the broad-spectrum antibiotics called the beta-lactams, which include the penicillins and the cephalosporins.  

Most MRSA infections occur in hospitals. People can carry it on their skin or in their noses with no symptoms and in this way they can infect others without knowing.   

About 95,000 serious infections with this type of bacteria occur in the United States each year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

“It is time for physicians to realize just how prevalent this is,” said Dr. Gregory Moran of Olive View-UCLA Medical Center, who led the study.

Dr. Rachel Gorwitz of the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, co-author of the study, published in Thursday’s New England Journal of Medicine said that the antibiotics commonly prescribed to treat staph infections are not effective against MRSA. Drug-resistant strains can also cause a vicious type of pneumonia and even “flesh-eating” wounds.

In hospitals, patients with weakened immune systems and children are at greater risk for infection. MRSA is more prevalent and potentially more serious when acquired in a hospital than when contracted outside.

To prevent infection, the CDC recommends washing hands, taking care of your skin, which includes covering any sores or wounds with a clean dressing and avoid sharing personal products like towels or razors.