Newspapers have been full of stories describing outbreaks of skin infections due to methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) among healthy young adults. Like other kinds of bacteria, staph bacteria are always present on the skin and in the nose but usually don't cause an infection.

In the past, staph infections were easily overcome with one of the penicillin-like antibiotics, such as methicillin. In contrast, infections with MRSA have become increasingly difficult to treat because the bacteria are no longer killed by most antibiotics.

MRSA had mostly been confined to patients in the hospital and soon after their discharge. Now, an article in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) has documented that MRSA infections, especially of the skin, have become more common in people outside of hospitals.

Although early treatment with certain antibiotics can almost always control mild skin infections, the JAMA article reports an increasing incidence of deadly MRSA infections that "eat" the skin or, after invading the blood stream, attack other vital organs like the kidneys, heart, and liver.

These infections are serious, as is evident from the projections made by the authors of the JAMA study. They estimate that in 2005, for example, deaths from invasive MRSA exceeded HIV/AIDS deaths in the U.S.

Risk factors for hospital-associated MRSA infections include:

• a current or recent hospitalization
• residence in a long-term-care facility
• invasive medical procedures 
• recent or long-term antibiotic use

Healthy young people with no recent exposure to health care settings can contract MRSA infections. These infections are particularly common among adolescents who have weakened immune systems or who play on sports teams, where participants are in close contact with one another.

Young athletes — and everyone else, for that matter — can reduce their risk of infection by:

• not sharing athletic equipment or personal items such as towels
• washing their hands frequently
• keeping any wounds clean, dry, and covered 
• seeking medical attention for any persistent skin infections

To prevent the further development of antibiotic-resistant bacteria, doctors must stop prescribing antibiotics for viral infections just because their patients ask for these drugs.

Doctors must instead continue to belabor the same old fact: Colds and the flu are caused by viruses and so do not respond to antibiotic treatment.