Staph infections pose a serious health threat -- particularly since they are often resistant to many currently available antibiotics.

Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis think they may be one step closer to developing a vaccine that can prevent the spread of these deadly bugs. Their findings were published Tuesday in the Journal of Clinical Investigation, UPI reports.

"Across the globe, staph infections have become a pervasive health threat because of increasing antibiotic resistance," senior investigator Juliane Bubeck Wardenburg, director of the Division of Pediatric Critical Care at Washington University, said in a press release. "Despite the medical community's best efforts, the superbug has shown a consistent ability to elude treatment"

Staph bacteria are the leading cause of potentially dangerous skin infections worldwide. Drug-resistant strains of the bug -- known as methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, or MRSA -- have become a serious threat to public health.