U.S. researchers reported that children in the country are increasingly developing drug resistant ear, nose and throat infections with a drug-resistant type of "superbug" bacteria called MRSA.

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, or MRSA was previously a problem in hospitals attacking patients who are already weakened by disease but with the recent outbreaks occurring in the community in otherwise healthy children, medical experts are concerned and called on doctors to be more judicious in prescribing antibiotics. Methicillin is penicillin’s more potent cousin and MRSA has been dubbed "methicillin resistant," due to its ability to repel methicillin’s as well as other strong antibiotics effects.

Dr. Steven Sobol of Emory University who participated in the study said, "There is a nationwide increase in the prevalence of MRSA in children with head and neck infections that is alarming." Researchers found a study of thousands of cases which showed the dramatic increase in rates of MRSA between 2001 and 2006 suggesting a mounting entrenchment of MRSA in communities.

In the study researchers studied medical records from 300 hospitals nationwide and studied children ages 1-18 with head and neck infections caused by Staphylococcus aureus between 2001 to 2006. In 21,009 cases of pediatric ear, nose and throat infections they found the percentage of MRSA infections had increased from 12 % in 2001 to 28% in 2006. They also found that nearly 60 % of all MRSA infections of the head and neck among the children were acquired outside the hospital with a majority in the children’s ears.

One of the researchers Dr. Iman Naseri of Emory University in Georgia attributed the 16 % increase that was seen to the increase in MRSA in places where people tend to be in close proximity and congregate. The researchers suggest doctors should carry out careful screening of head and neck infections and prescribe antibiotics if they would be helpful.

Dr. Aaron Glatt, president and chief executive of New Island Hospital in Bethpage and a spokesman for the Infectious Diseases Society of America, the nation's leading professional organization of microbial conditions specialists said emphasis should be placed on proper hygiene and frequent hand washing.

"It's not surprising at all that we are seeing more and more MRSA in communities, and when you see it more in communities, there will be more cases in kids, too," said Glatt. "MRSA doesn't cause a worse infection; it makes treatment options fewer. But it is eminently treatable. In children you are more limited, you can't use the tetracyclines, but there are medications available" he added.

Teytracyclines are a strong antibiotic however it cannot be used in children under the age of 8 as it affects bone development and causes the teeth to yellow.

The study appears in the Archives of Otalaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery.