Their conclusion: MRSA is here to stay. It is an organism that can cause mild skin infections but is capable of invading the bloodstream and causing systemic damage. For years it has been a problem in hospitals, a so-called nosocomial infection. Now it is making its way into communities, infecting people in gyms, schools and daycare centers.

MRSA is a threat because it is drug-resistant — and hardy. But it has plenty of company among microbes — tiny creatures with titanic drug-repelling consequences. Indeed, MRSA got its name, methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, because it is capable of defeating methicillin, penicillin’s more potent cousin.

“What we have seen is Darwinism in action,” said Dr. Roy Steigbigel of Stony Brook University Medical Center, referring to MRSA’s drug-thwarting capacity as a prime example of survival of the fittest.

The trouble with drug-resistant organisms is frightening: The medical community is running out of drugs to control them.

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