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News & Events

Carol's story: losing a parent to RHD

After being diagnosed with rheumatic heart disease at ten, Elizabeth had to leave country and her family for a large chunk of her childhood so she could be treated in Adelaide.

News & Events

Margie's story: Parent to a child with ARF

When Liana complained of a sore foot and showed signs of a fever, her mum Margie rushed her to hospital. An X-ray of her foot revealed no obvious injury, so she was sent home and advised to take painkillers.

News & Events

2017 Annual Meeting – Darwin

On 11 May 2017, over 60 attendees from throughout Australia convened in Darwin for a one-day Annual Meeting to discuss the progress of the END RHD CRE research projects, national RHD advocacy and the development of the final Endgame output.

News & Events

Preventing RHD through community-driven activities

Health activities driven by remote Indigenous communities may be key to the sustainable and successful treatment and prevention of a potentially fatal disease, a study has found.

Research

Lack of effectiveness of 13-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccination against pneumococcal carriage density in Papua New Guinean infants

Papua New Guinea (PNG) introduced the 13-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV13) in 2014, with administration at 1, 2, and 3 months of age. PCV13 has reduced or eliminated carriage of vaccine types in populations with low pneumococcal carriage prevalence, carriage density and serotype diversity.

Research

Formative evaluation of a community-based approach to reduce the incidence of Strep A infections and acute rheumatic fever

We explore the acceptability of a novel, outreached-based approach to improve primary and primordial prevention of Strep A skin sores, sore throats and acute rheumatic fever in remote Aboriginal communities. A comprehensive prevention program delivered by trained Aboriginal Community Workers was evaluated using approximately fortnightly household surveys about health and housing and clinical records.

Research

Rheumatic Heart Disease Control Programs, Registers, and Access to Care

Rheumatic heart disease (RHD) control programs have been recommended by the World Health Organization as the mainstay of reducing the burden of RHD for nearly half a century. Programs should be structured around a disease register of people living with RHD and to support delivery of secondary prophylaxis.

Research

Rheumatic heart disease mortality in Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians between 2010 and 2017

To generate contemporary age-specific mortality rates for Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians aged <65 years who died from rheumatic heart disease between 2013 and 2017, and to ascertain the underlying causes of death of a prevalent RHD cohort aged <65 years who died during the same period.

Research

Evaluating the role of asymptomatic throat carriage of Streptococcus pyogenes in impetigo transmission in remote Aboriginal communities in Northern Territory, Australia: a retrospective genomic analysis

Streptococcus pyogenes, or group A Streptococcus (GAS), infections contribute to a high burden of disease in Aboriginal Australians, causing skin infections and immune sequelae such as rheumatic heart disease. Controlling skin infections in these populations has proven difficult, with transmission dynamics being poorly understood. We aimed to identify the relative contributions of impetigo and asymptomatic throat carriage to GAS transmission.