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Research

Research opportunities for the primordial prevention of rheumatic fever and rheumatic heart disease - streptococcal vaccine development: a national heart, lung and blood institute workshop report

Streptococcus pyogenes, also known as group A streptococcus (StrepA), is a bacterium that causes a range of human diseases, including pharyngitis, impetigo, invasive infections, and post-infection immune sequelae such as rheumatic fever and rheumatic heart disease. StrepA infections cause some of the highest burden of disease and death in mostly young populations in low-resource settings. Despite decades of effort, there is still no licensed StrepA vaccine, which if developed, could be a cost-effective way to reduce the incidence of disease. 

Research

Morbidity of Scabies in Resource-Limited Countries: Rheumatic Heart Disease (RHD) and Post-Streptococcal Glomerulonephritis (APSGN)

Scabies is one of the world’s most prevalent diseases, with approximately 147 million cases at any one time and an estimated annual incidence of 455 million new episodes. Although Group A streptococcal (GAS) pharyngitis has long been implicated in the pathogenesis of acute rheumatic fever (ARF) and subsequent rheumatic heart disease (RHD), impetigo caused by GAS has recently been postulated as a link between scabies and the pathogenesis of ARF.

Research

Research opportunities for the primary prevention and management of acute rheumatic fever and rheumatic heart disease: a National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute workshop report

Primary prevention of acute rheumatic fever (ARF) and rheumatic heart disease (RHD) encompasses the timely diagnosis and adequate treatment of the superficial group A Streptococcus (GAS) infections pharyngitis and impetigo. GAS is the only known inciting agent in the pathophysiology of the disease.

Research

Rheumatic Heart Disease Worldwide: JACC Scientific Expert Panel

The authors present a variety of pressing clinical research questions on optimal RHD prevention and advanced care

Research

Inter-rater and intra-rater reliability and agreement of echocardiographic diagnosis of rheumatic heart disease using the World Heart Federation evidence-based criteria

The WHF echocardiographic criteria enable reproducible categorisation of echocardiograms as definite RHD versus no or borderline RHD

Research

Disparity in Mortality From Rheumatic Heart Disease in Indigenous Australians

Indigenous Australians are much more likely to die from Rheumatic Heart Disease than other Australians.

Research

The Australian guideline for prevention, diagnosis and management of acute rheumatic fever and rheumatic heart disease

Acute rheumatic fever (ARF) and rheumatic heart disease (RHD) occur at very high rates among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

Research

Acute rheumatic fever and rheumatic heart disease: Incidence and progression in the Northern Territory of Australia 1997 -2010

The reduction in ARF recurrence indicates that the RHD control program has improved secondary prophylaxis; a decline in RHD incidence is expected to follow.

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).