The staphylococcus aureus bacteraemia, known among the medical fraternity as staph, are increasingly found outside hospitals and nursing homes in the United States, causing alarm about its drug-resistant nature and its potential to cause a calamity.
The bacteria until recently were seen in hospitals and healthcare environment where the infection is usually caused through open wounds or transfusion tubes.
Doctors have now found instances of the infection among children and athletes, who have no association with hospitals.
Research work in Baltimore, the Atlanta area and Minnesota has given evidence that as much as 17 per cent of drug-resistant staph infections were caught in the community and did not have any apparent links to healthcare settings.
Writing in Nee England Journal of Medicine, Dr Scptt Fridkin of the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention says "close to one-fifth of what used to be a hospital-specific problem is now a community problem".
In a subsequent study, also reported in the journal, paints grim picture.
It said the drug-resistant strain of staph has been found to be having ''flesh-eating'' capabilities and has caused 14 cases of rare necrotizing fasciitis in the Los Angeles area.
The staph bacteria are known to cause skin infections.
Healthy people may carry the bacteria on their skin and in their noses.
When infections occur, they are mostly pimples and boils, but the germ can cause serious surgical wound infections, bloodstream infections and pneumonia.
Staph infections can be prevented by people maintaining hygiene, using antiseptic and covering wounds and cuts with bandages.
They should also avoid sharing towels, razors and clothes.