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Fear of severe adverse reaction (SAR) and reluctance of health care providers to administer intramuscular injections are major contributing factors to poor adherence of benzathine penicillin G (BPG) in the management of rheumatic heart disease (RHD). However, data on the risk of SARs following BPG injections for RHD are relatively limited and inconclusive. Our systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to evaluate the incidence of SARs associated with BPG injections used for secondary prophylaxis of RHD.
The prevalence of impetigo and pharyngitis - which are both superficial group A streptococcus (GAS) infections that precede acute rheumatic fever - is poorly defined. Guidelines recommend the early diagnosis of both infections to prevent ARF; however, screening to enable the concurrent detection of these infections in high-risk populations has rarely been performed.
Aboriginal health is everyone's business. The needs of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families and kids is integrated into all relevant areas of our work. Improving the health and wellbeing of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander kids and families is an overarching priority for every team at The Kids.
Group A Streptococcal (GAS) pharyngitis is an important precursor infection to severe complications including rheumatic fever and invasive GAS. Rapid molecular point of care testing (POCT) for GAS infection has advantages over traditional microbiological culture, especially in settings with limited or absent laboratory infrastructure and where GAS complications predominate.
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.
This article documents the establishment of community laundries in rural/remote Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities between 2000-2024, with the aim to support synergistic planning, implementation and evaluation.
Here we describe the experiences of young people living with ARF participating in a Phase-II trial of SubCutaneous Injections of BPG.
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.
Rheumatic heart disease is the largest contributor to cardiac-related mortality in children worldwide. Outcomes in endemic settings after its antecedent illness, acute rheumatic fever, are not well understood. We aimed to describe 3-5 year mortality, acute rheumatic fever recurrence, changes in carditis, and correlates of mortality after acute rheumatic fever.
During 2013–2017, the mortality rate ratio for rheumatic heart disease among Indigenous versus non-Indigenous persons in Australia was 15.9, reflecting health inequity. Using excess mortality methods, we found that deaths associated with rheumatic heart disease among Indigenous Australians were probably substantially undercounted, affecting accuracy of calculations based solely on Australian Bureau of Statistics data.