© Der Spiegel
An image of a strain of a Staphylococcus aureaus bacteria: Researchers around the world are growing increasingly worried about news strains of bacteria that are resistant to most common antibiotics.
An image of a strain of a Staphylococcus aureaus bacteria: Researchers around the world are growing increasingly worried about news strains of bacteria that are resistant to most common antibiotics.
The pathogens thrive in warm, moist environments. They feel comfortable in people's armpits, in the genital area and in the nasal mucous membranes. Their hunting grounds are in the locker rooms of schools and universities, as well as in the communal showers of prisons and health clubs.
The bacteria are transmitted via the skin, through towels, clothing or direct body contact. All it takes is a small abrasion to provide them with access to a victim's bloodstream. Festering pustules develop at the infection site, at which point the pathogens are also capable of corroding the lungs. If doctors wait too long, patients can die very quickly.
