Park Forest, IL–(ENEWSPF)– Dr. Shahnaz Azad, a physician specializing in infectious disease at St. James Hospitals and Health Centers, will visit Freedom Hall on Saturday at 10:00 a.m. to discuss Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), a bacterium resulting in difficult to treat skin infections.
A disease that previously only occurred in patients at hospitals and long-term care facilities, MRSA began to mysteriously appear in schools in late 2007.
In response to the outbreak, the State of Illinois Public Health Director Dr. Damon Arnold launched a campaign to better inform the public on how to protect against MRSA, however, prevention of the disease is still widely unknown.
In addition to educating those in attendance on MRSA, Dr. Azad’s presentation will also highlight the ways in which a healthy lifestyle can defend against other infectious illness, a topic of recent popularity in Park Forest with the start of the Ten Ton Challenge that kicked off earlier this month.
The Park Forest Ten Ton Challenge is an initiative that encourages residents to do their part in helping the community lose 20,000 pounds (10 tons) by December 31st 2008. The Park Forest Health Department Nurses Plus staff will assist participants who accept the challenge in not only losing weight, but changing their lifestyles to keep the pounds off.
For more information on the Ten Ton Challenge, please contact the Park Forest Health Department Nurses Plus at 708.748.1118.
Dr. Azad is the second of 7 scheduled speakers to conduct presentations for the Saturday Morning Speaker Series at Freedom Hall, 410 Lakewood Boulevard. Admission is free.
Source: VOPF
