This week marks Rheumatic Heart Disease Week

Our last interview was with Professor Bongani Mayosi - Head of the Department of Medicine at Groote Schuur Hospital and the University of Cape Town. We were talking about Rheumatic heart disease as we know that this week is the Rheumatic Heart Disease Week. According to the World Heart Federation, over 15 million people around the world suffer from the condition, which kills hundreds of thousands of people a year and is the most common acquired heart disease found among children and young people in developing countries. Rheumatic heart disease is a rare form of heart disease that typically affects children, that’s caused by having rheumatic fever, which itself is a complication from the strep throat bacteria. The inflammation from rheumatic fever causes the heart valves to become weaker and not push through the blood as they should, thus creating heart disease and also impacts on the skin, joints and nervous system. Several symptoms such as fever, swollen and red joints, nodules over the swollen joints, skin rashes, breathlessness, fatigue, chest pain, fainting attacks, palpitations and uncontrolled movements of facial muscles, legs and arms are associated with rheumatic heart disease as they start to appear typically one to six weeks after you are infected with strep throat. The best way to avoid rheumatic heart disease is to treat strep throat when your child (or you) has it by seeing a doctor immediately and begin antibiotic treatments because then it does not have the opportunity to turn into rheumatic fever and cause heart problems. For more information you can contact your local clinic or day hospital.