Skip to content
The Kids Research Institute Australia logo

Acute Rheumatic Fever Diagnostic Network (ARC Network) clinical recruitment protocol

Rheumatic heart disease, a major cause of morbidity and mortality in low- and middle-income countries, results from acute rheumatic fever (ARF), for which no diagnostic test currently exists. The ARF Diagnosis Collaborative Network (ARC Network) was established to address this gap by recruiting a rigorously phenotyped, globally representative cohort of children and adolescents with ARF and controls to support biomarker discovery.

Citation:
Fall N, Bowen AC, Buonfiglio S, ………. Gorman C, Fonseca Mendoza R, ……. Carapetis J, Beaton AZ. Acute Rheumatic Fever Diagnostic Network (ARC Network) clinical recruitment protocol. BMJ Open. 2026;16(3).

Keywords:
Cardiovascular Disease; Paediatric cardiology; Public health; Valvular heart disease

Abstract:
Rheumatic heart disease, a major cause of morbidity and mortality in low- and middle-income countries, results from acute rheumatic fever (ARF), for which no diagnostic test currently exists. The ARF Diagnosis Collaborative Network (ARC Network) was established to address this gap by recruiting a rigorously phenotyped, globally representative cohort of children and adolescents with ARF and controls to support biomarker discovery.