The MRSA (methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus) Survivors' Network, a Chicago-based nonprofit, has declared October as MRSA Awareness Month and October 2nd as World MRSA Day. The Network's goal is to substantially raise global awareness and create an opportunity for the community and the health care industry to come together to demand an immediate response to the MRSA epidemic and pandemic.

Women In Government (WIG) President Mary Brooks Beatty was joined by MRSA Survivors' Network President Jeanine Thomas on September 28 at an Illinois State Briefing and Luncheon hosted by Representative Patti Bellock, a WIG Board Member and co-chair of the World MRSA Day kick-off event. Representative Bellock introduced a bill in the Illinois General Assembly that created the MRSA Prevention, Control, and Reporting Act, a piece of legislation that lays out prevention, control and reporting requirements for public institutions. Rep. Bellock will join Jeanine Thomas at the World MRSA Day Kickoff event to be held October 1st in Chicago.

MRSA is a type of bacterium often found on the skin and in the nose. MRSA is resistant to many antibiotics and therefore difficult to treat. It can cause bloodstream, pneumonia, and bone infections occurring most frequently among persons in hospitals and health care facilities, including nursing homes and dialysis centers. MRSA infections in the community are usually manifested as skin infections, such as pimples and boils, and occur in otherwise healthy people. MRSA infections can cause illness and even death when contracted in the community in healthy individuals.

For more information on World MRSA Day, please visit www.worldmrsaday.org.