Drug-Resistant Staph a Widespread Threat

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Klevens believes more effort is needed, especially among health care providers, to reduce the number of infections. "This is really a call for action to health care settings that we need to do a better job at preventing MRSA," she said.

One expert agreed that the new study should serve as a warning.

"This is really the first study to quantify how much MRSA is occurring in the United States," said Dr. Elizabeth A. Bancroft, an epidemiologist at the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health and author of an accompanying journal editorial. "The rate of infection is a lot higher than what was expected," she added.

The rate of MRSA is higher than the rate of the four other invasive bacterial diseases that public health officials typically study, Bancroft said. In fact, more people died in 2005 from MRSA infections in the United States than died from AIDS, she noted.

"The MRSA rate is only the tip of the iceberg, because this study only included cases that are invasive," she said. "MRSA, especially in the community setting, is more likely to cause skin infections," she said.

Prevention is relatively simple: People can protect themselves from MRSA by washing their hands, keeping wounds covered and maintaining good hygiene, Bancroft said. "You don't always need antibiotics to treat this infection," she said. "A lot of times, it can be treated by having a doctor drain the pus out."

"The most common way MRSA is spread is from person-to-person," Bancroft said.

In the hospital or other health care facilities, patients should make sure that doctors and nurses wash their hands before touching them, starting an IV or inserting a catheter or other invasive device, Bancroft said.

MRSA in the outside community is most often passed from one person to another through casual contact, such as body contact during sports, sharing towels or athletic equipment, particularly in schools and prisons, Bancroft said.

Outbreaks of staph skin infections are being reported this year in schools across America, and some of them are caused by MRSA, the Associated Press reported on Saturday. Most infections are being spread in school gyms and locker rooms as athletes with minor cuts and abrasions share equipment, experts said.