Parents with children under the age of 5 should be aware of the bacteria called MRSA, which has been found in about 10 percent of the children in Taiwan.

According to the latest study by Linkou's Chang Gung Children's Hospital, the multi-drug resistant bacteria can cause serious infection, and can be fatal to some.

Medical experts are reminding people to pay attention to hygiene, to frequently wash hands, and to prevent being in crowded environments.

Staphylococcus aureus or MRSA infection can occur in the elbow, leading to swelling and ulceration of skin, with the bacteria also invading the bone.

MRSA is very aggressive and the medical community has classified it as a super-bacteria.

In the past 10 years, it has been a serious cause of child mortality, and even if does not manifest itself as an illness, it can also hide in the human body.

Linkou's Chang Gung Children's Hospital has conducted a study from 2005 to 2008, collecting samples from 6,000 children and finding that 7.8% of these children have the bacteria in them.

The carrier rate has increased significantly in 3 years.

The study also found that children carrying these germs also pose a risk to family members, as each additional member increases the carrier rate of 1.1 times,

and nurseries and kindergartens increase the carrier rate 1.5 times, showing that crowded environments will increase the proportion of contamination.

Doctors recommend breast-feeding infants and reducing the carrier rate by 0.6 times.

Longer periods of breastfeeding can lower the infection rate, while also reminding the public to pay attention to hygiene, to wash their hands and to avoid crowded environments.