Within six months of effectively using methicillin to treat S. aureus infections in a community, all new infections were caused by MRSA. How can this result best be explained?
A) S. aureus can resist vaccines.
B) A patient must have become infected with MRSA from another community.
C) In response to the drug, S. aureus began making drug-resistant versions of the protein targeted by the drug.
D) Some drug-resistant bacteria were present at the start of treatment, and natural selection increased their frequency.
E) The drug caused the S. aureus DNA to change.
Answer: D