A select few of the populations at risk include: * People with indwelling implants, prostheses, drains, and catheters * People who are frequently in crowded places, especially with shared equipment and skin-to-skin contact * People with weak immune systems (HIV/AIDS, lupus, or cancer sufferers; transplant recipients; severe asthmatics; etc.) * Diabetics * Intravenous drug users * Regular contact with someone who has injected drugs in the past year * Users of quinolone antibiotics * Elderly people * School children sharing sports and other equipment * College students living in dormitories * People staying or working in a health-care facility for an extended period of time * People who spend time in coastal waters where<unk>  is present, such as some beaches in Florida and the West Coast of the United States * People who spend time in confined spaces with other people, including occupants of homeless shelters, prison inmates, and military recruits in basic training * Veterinarians, livestock handlers, and pet owners * People who ingest unpasteurized milk * People who are immunocompromised and also colonized * People with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease * People who have had thoracic surgery As many as 22% of people infected with<unk>  do not have any discernable risk factors. Hospitalized people People who are hospitalized, including the elderly, are often immunocompromised and susceptible to infection of all kinds, including<unk> ; an infection by<unk>  is called healthcare-associated or hospital-acquired<unk><unk>  S.<unk>  (HA-MRSA). Generally, those infected by<unk>  stay infected for just under 10 days, if treated by a doctor, although effects may vary from person to person. Both surgical and nonsurgical wounds can be infected with HA-MRSA. Surgical site infections occur on the skin surface, but can spread to internal organs and blood to cause sepsis. Transmission can occur between healthcare providers and patients because some providers may neglect to perform preventative hand-washing between examinations. People in nursing homes are at risk for all the reasons above, further complicated by their generally weaker immune systems. Prison inmates and military personnel Prisons and military barracks can be crowded and confined, and poor hygiene practices may proliferate, thus putting inhabitants at increased risk of contracting<unk> . Cases of<unk>  in such populations were first reported in the United States and later in Canada. The earliest reports were made by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in US state prisons. In the news media, hundreds of reports of<unk>  outbreaks in prisons appeared between 2000 and 2008. For example, in February 2008, the Tulsa County jail in Oklahoma started treating an average of 12 S.<unk>  cases per month. Animals Antibiotic use in livestock increases the risk that<unk>  will develop among the livestock; strains<unk>  ST 398 and CC398 are transmissible to humans. Generally, animals are asymptomatic. Domestic pets are susceptible to<unk>  infection by transmission from their owners; conversely,<unk> -infected pets can also transmit<unk>  to humans. Athletes Locker rooms, gyms, and related athletic facilities offer potential sites for<unk>  contamination and infection. Athletes have been identified as a high-risk group. A study linked<unk>  to the abrasions caused by artificial turf. Three studies by the Texas State Department of Health found the infection rate among football players was 16 times the national average. In October 2006, a high-school football player was temporarily paralyzed from<unk> -infected turf burns. His infection returned in January 2007 and required three surgeries to remove infected tissue, and three weeks of hospital stay. In 2013, Lawrence Tynes, Carl Nicks, and Johnthan Banks of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers were diagnosed with<unk> . Tynes and Nicks apparently did not contract the infection from each other, but whether Banks contracted it from either individual is unknown. In 2015, Los Angeles Dodgers infielder Justin Turner was infected while the team visited the New York Mets. In October 2015, New York Giants tight end Daniel Fells was hospitalized with a serious<unk>  infection. Children<unk>  is becoming a critical problem in children; studies found 4.6% of patients in U.S. health-care facilities, (presumably) including hospital nurseries, were infected or colonized with<unk> . Children and adults who come in contact with day-care centers, playgrounds, locker rooms, camps, dormitories, classrooms and other school settings, and gyms and workout facilities are at higher risk of contracting<unk> . Parents should be especially cautious of children who participate in activities where sports equipment is shared, such as football helmets and uniforms. Intravenous drug users Needle-required drugs have caused an increase of<unk> , with injection drug use (IDU) making up 24.1% (1,839 individuals) of Tennessee Hospital's Discharge System. The unsanitary methods of injection causes an access point for the<unk>  to enter the blood stream and begin infecting the host. Furthermore, with<unk> 's high contagion rate, a common risk factor is individuals who are in constant contact with someone who has injected drugs in the past year. This does still depend how strong the non-infected individual's immune system is and how long both individuals remain in contact.
Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus
Vancomycin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus
Vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus
Streptococcus bovis
Carbapenem-resistant enterobacteriaceae
Streptococcus pyogenes
Staphylococcus haemolyticus
Corynebacterium diphtheriae