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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.
Rheumatic heart disease (RHD) is responsible for a significant burden of cardiovascular morbidity and mortality, and remains the most common cause of acquired heart disease among children and young adults in low-income and middle-income countries. Additionally, the global COVID-19 pandemic has forced the emergency restructuring of many health systems, which has had a broad impact on health in general, including cardiovascular disease.
Bacterial skin infections and scabies disproportionately affect children in resource-poor countries as well as underprivileged children in high-income countries. Atopic dermatitis is a common childhood dermatosis that predisposes to bacterial skin infection.
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).
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.
In remote communities of northern Australia, First Nations children with hearing loss are disproportionately at risk of poor school readiness and performance compared to their peers with no hearing loss. The aim of this trial is to prevent early childhood persisting otitis media (OM), associated hearing loss and developmental delay.
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.