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Researchers have discovered a key factor that explains why antibiotic-resistant bacteria can thrive in a hospital setting, according to a new study.

The study found circles of DNA called plasmids to be the main culprit. They can easily enter bacteria and move from one bacteria to another. Some also carry gene that makes bacteria drug-resistant, the study found. 

"The plasmids we are talking about carry an antibiotic-resistant gene to a class of antibiotic called carbapenems," said the study's co-author, Dr. Tara Palmore, an infection control specialist at the U.S. National Institutes of Health, in the press release. 

Carbapenems are antibiotics of last resort, and carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE) are bacterial pathogens that pose a "formidable" threat to hospitalized patients, according to the research.

According to background information in the report, CRE incidences has quadrupled in the last ten years, in the US.

The study added that plasmid transfer in hospitals is likely contributing to the increase in antibiotic -resistant bacteria. 

With the help of advanced DNA sequencing of samples from more than 1,000 patients, researchers were able to see the complete genome of bacteria samples. Eventually, they identified the antibiotic-resistant genes - plasmids - located in those samples. 

"It informs us of how bacteria can pick up the resistance," Palmore said. "Efforts to control these bacteria need to focus on containing them by isolating patients who are carriers of the bacteria and also by disinfecting the hospital environment where the bacteria might live."

The study has been published in the Science Translational Medicine.