Doctors announced on Monday that the staph bacteria found in common places is believed to have evolved and possibly reached the status of “superbug”, making these infections more dangerous than ever before.

Usually, these kinds of infections were easier to fight off than the ones caused by staph found in hospitals which evolves in such a way as to be immune to many different treatments. Staph, or Staphylococcus, toxins are most common cause of food poisoning as rotten food or the one which has been stored in an improper way provide a perfect environment for staph to grow.

These bacteria are known to be able to cause a variety of diseases from milder ones, like small skin infections, to diseases that can be life threatening, like pneumonia, Toxic shock syndrome (TSS) and septicemia.

A recent study shows that the most common strain of Staphylococcus has successfully managed to be immune to antibiotics in 10% of the cases. Doctors are saying that the bacteria are entering hospitals, merging with other bacteria becoming harder to fight off. The most dangerous strain is called Staphylococcus aureus and doctors are saying that this particular type can be immune to methicillin, making it very hard to treat.

Studies show that about 20,000 deaths are annually attributed to drug-resistant staph bacteria in the US and that annually approximately 95,000 serious infections occur. The methicilin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus is worrying doctors as the bacteria proved to be immune to clindamycin, tetracycline, Bactrim and other antibiotics in 10% of the cases. Another problem with this strain is that it can evolve rather quickly, swapping genes with other bacteria, thus becoming even stronger and harder to fight off.