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The World Health Organisation resolution for global action to tackle rheumatic heart disease (RHD) will have significant implications for Australia, which has some of the highest rates of the disease in the world.
End RHD CRE News & Events
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).
For Aboriginal Community Researchers Minitja Marawili and Yunutju Gondarra, the work of the END RHD CRE is deeply personal.
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.
We have read with interest the new publication by Rouhiainen and colleagues on missed opportunities for preventing or diagnosing acute rheumatic fever (ARF).
This study aims to describe the pattern and trends in acute rheumatic fever (ARF)/rheumatic heart disease (RHD)-related hospitalisations and costs for Australians aged <65 years.
Since 1955, the recommended strategy for rheumatic heart disease secondary prophylaxis has been benzathine penicillin G injections administered intramuscularly every 4 weeks. Due to dosing frequency, pain, and programmatic challenges, adherence is suboptimal. It has previously been demonstrated that BPG delivered subcutaneously at a standard dose is safe and tolerable and has favorable pharmacokinetics, setting the scene for improved regimens with less frequent administration.
The heart failure epidemic is growing and its prevention, in order to reduce associated hospital readmission rates and its clinical and economic burden, is a key issue in modern cardiovascular medicine. The present consensus document aims to provide practical evidence-based information to support the implementation of effective preventive measures.
Environmental factors including household crowding and inadequate washing facilities underpin recurrent streptococcal infections in childhood that cause acute rheumatic fever (ARF) and subsequent rheumatic heart disease (RHD).