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End RHD CRE News & Events

Rheumatic Heart Disease Endgame Strategy: what does it mean to community?

Across Australia, more than 5,000 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are currently living with rheumatic heart disease (RHD) or its precursor, acute rheumatic fever (ARF).

Visit from On Track Watch Community Researchers helps build a pathway of looking at two different cultures

For Aboriginal Community Researchers Minitja Marawili and Yunutju Gondarra, the work of the END RHD CRE is deeply personal.

Laqueisha's story: living with RHD

Laqueisha was just five years old when she was diagnosed with rheumatic heart disease and sent on a 5,000km return trip to Perth for major heart surgery.

Acceptability and Implementation Challenges of Benzathine Penicillin G Secondary Prophylaxis for Rheumatic Heart Disease in Ethiopia: A Qualitative Study

Monthly intramuscular injections of benzathine penicillin G (BPG) remain the cornerstone of secondary prophylaxis for acute rheumatic fever and rheumatic heart disease (RHD). The barriers to successful delivery of BPG may be patient- or service-delivery-dependent.

Establishing the lowest penicillin concentration to prevent pharyngitis due to Streptococcus pyogenes using a human challenge model (CHIPS)

The in-vivo plasma concentration of penicillin needed to prevent Streptococcus pyogenes pharyngitis, recurrent acute rheumatic fever, and progressive rheumatic heart disease is not known. We used a human challenge model to assess the minimum penicillin concentration required to prevent streptococcal pharyngitis.

The need for community-controlled tools to monitor health impacts of housing and living conditions in Australia

We explore the contemporary landscape of housing investments and initiatives seeking to improve health outcomes among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in Australia, as well as the dearth of quality evidence and agreed approaches to evaluation.

Trends in incident acute rheumatic fever or rheumatic heart disease in Indigenous youth in Western Australia: a retrospective cohort study

To determine age-specific and age-standardised incidence trends of acute rheumatic fever (ARF) or rheumatic heart disease (RHD) among Indigenous Western Australians aged less than 35 years of age.

Scoping review of variation in clinical guidelines for delivery of injectable long-acting penicillin across Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand

This scoping review explores existing clinical guidelines on administration of benzathine benzylpenicillin (Bicillin L-A, Pfizer Australia) in Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand. The objective is to understand existing delivery guidance to address variation in care and cultural safety considerations, to support messaging during periods of stockout and to inform planning for new administration techniques.

Estimating the true number of people with acute rheumatic fever and rheumatic heart disease from two data sources using capture-recapture methodology

In Australia, accurate case ascertainment of acute rheumatic fever (ARF) and rheumatic heart disease (RHD) diagnoses for disease surveillance and control purposes requires the use of multiple data sources, including RHD registers and hospitalisation records. Despite drawing on multiple data sources, the true burden of ARF/RHD is likely to be underestimated.