The Epidemiology Of Acute Rheumatic Fever and Rheumatic Heart Diseases (Retrospective Study)

Acute rheumatic fever (ARF) is an auto-immune consequence of infection with the bacterium group A streptococcus (GAS). It causes an acute generalized inflammatory response and an illness that affects only certain parts of the body — mainly the heart, joints, brain and skin. Individuals with ARF are often severely unwell in great pain, and require hospitalization. Despite the dramatic nature of the acute episode, ARF leaves no lasting damage to the brain, joints or skinHowever, the damage to the heart — or more specifically the mitral and/or aortic valves — may remain once the acute episode has resolved. This is known as rheumatic heart disease (RHD). People who have had ARF previously are much more likely than the wider community to have subsequent episodes. These recurrences of ARF may cause further cardiac valve damage. Hence RHD steadily worsens in people who have multiple episodes of ARF. Because of its high prevalence in developing countries, RHD is the most common form of paediatric heart disease in the world. In many countries it is the most common cause of cardiac mortality in children and adults aged less than 40 years