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Acute rheumatic fever (ARF), a serious inflammatory condition, often leads to rheumatic heart disease. Between 2011 and 2016, Aotearoa New Zealand implemented a rheumatic fever prevention programme to reduce high rates of ARF through improved community access to timely diagnosis and early treatment of group A streptococcal pharyngitis, which has been shown to prevent subsequent ARF.
Honorary
Dr Janessa Pickering is a research microbiologist with expertise in the molecular diagnostics and host pathogen interactions of upper respiratory tract pathogens that cause disease in children.
Rheumatic heart disease (RHD) is the most important cause of acquired cardiovascular disease in children and young adults. Virtually non-existent in most of Australia, it still predominantly affects Aboriginal communities.
Streptococcus pyogenes, or group A Streptococcus (GAS), infections contribute to a high burden of disease in Aboriginal Australians, causing skin infections and immune sequelae such as rheumatic heart disease. Controlling skin infections in these populations has proven difficult, with transmission dynamics being poorly understood. We aimed to identify the relative contributions of impetigo and asymptomatic throat carriage to GAS transmission.
Last night, almost 60 supporters gathered at Adelaide Town Hall for the inaugural The Kids Research Institute Australia Adelaide Lecture, Not Just a Sore Throat: The Race to Stop One of the Deadliest Bugs on the Planet.
A new study shows that people living in the Oceania region, including Australia, have the highest risk in the world of dying from rheumatic heart disease.
Health activities driven by remote Indigenous communities may be key to the sustainable and successful treatment and prevention of a potentially fatal disease, a study has found.
The Kids Research Institute Australia and Menzies School of Health Research have joined forces with Danila Dilba Health Service to look at improving treatment for RHD.
An international research team led by The Kids Research Institute Australia has been awarded a $5 million Synergy Grant by the NHMRC.