The Staphylococcus bacterium can build up strength if given the appropriate conditions. A warm, damp environment combined with a body’s weak immunity leaves the door open for the staph bacteria. The staph bacteria can mutate, evolve and gain extra strength, a transformation that occurs in those bacteria one can contract in hospitals or nursing homes.

The germs seem to be causing outbreaks in areas and institutions most prone to have large numbers of people co-existing simultaneously, such as schools, sports teams and the like. A study conducted by the Center for Disease Control concluded that about 10% of the common staph strains were resistant to the usual antibiotic treatment.

When a staph bacterium reaches a hospital, for instance, it combines and exchanges genetic components with other bacteria. It not only becomes stronger, but it needs a new study to establish an effective course of treatment. Also, the mutation of one type of bacterium entails the mutation of several bacteria. The United States are facing an epidemic, which if left unresolved, will lead to a world-spread pandemic.

One of these dangerous strains is the MRSA – the methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus. It can be carried on the skin or in the nose, and the carriers present no symptoms but infect others. This conclusion has led hospitals to isolate and test new patients to see if they are carriers of the MRSA.

The MRSA is mostly responsible for skin infections. One example of the bacterium’s strength is the people it affects, like Kellen Winslow, Cleveland Browns’ tight end. He was hospitalized for a staph infection recently, the second time in the last few years. In the past three years, the Cleveland Browns had at least six similar cases among them.

Statistics show that 95,000 people deal with serious infections, and 20,000 die because of the staph’s resistance to antibiotics and other drugs.