Group A streptococcus bacteria - responsible for the infection that claimed Tanya Gludau's right side - can cause a wide range of illnesses, which usually are treatable with antibiotics.

But medical professionals continue to express concern about an array of increasingly resilient strains of bacteria resistant to one or more types of antibiotic.

"These antibiotic-resistant bacteria can quickly spread to family members, schoolmates and co-workers - threatening the community with a new strain of infectious disease that is more difficult to cure and more expensive to treat," say officials at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. "For this reason, antibiotic resistance is among CDC's top concerns."

Bacteria develop resistance to antibiotics through a variety of mechanisms, but repeated and improper use of antibiotics are the primary causes, the CDC indicates.

Last month, the California Department of Public Health announced that the state will require severe cases of staph infections, including methicillin-resistant Staphylococcis aureus (MRSA), be reported to local health departments.

The department hopes accurate data about the number of severe staph infections will help prevent their future spread.

"Gaining a better picture of the incidence of severe cases of staph infections in California will enable us to develop more robust prevention and control strategies," said Mark Horton, director of the California Department of Public Health, in a news statement.

According to the CDC, serious MRSA infections occur in approximately 94,000 people each year and are associated with about 19,000 deaths, but MRSA is just one example of a far-reaching problem.

"Antibiotic resistance has been called one of the world's most pressing public health problems," CDC officials say. "Over the last decade, almost every type of bacteria has become stronger and less responsive to antibiotic treatment when it is really needed."

The CDC has several recommendations for preventing the proliferation of antibiotic-resistant bacteria, including talking with a health-care provider before taking antibiotics, not taking antibiotics for viral infections such as colds or flu and completing antibiotic treatments as prescribed.