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Rheumatic heart disease remains a major killer in Oceania region

A new study shows that people living in the Oceania region, including Australia, have the highest risk in the world of dying from rheumatic heart disease.

Research

Impact of an Ivermectin Mass Drug Administration on Scabies Prevalence in a Remote Australian Aboriginal Community.

Scabies is endemic in many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities, with 69% of infants infected in the first year of life.

Research

Study Protocol: Missing Voices – Communication Difficulties after Stroke and Traumatic Brain Injury in Aboriginal Australians

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians experience stroke and traumatic brain injury (TBI) with much greater frequency than non-Aboriginal Australians

Research

Susceptibility to acute rheumatic fever based on differential expression of genes involved in cytotoxicity, chemotaxis, and apoptosis

Differences in the immune response, detectable by gene expression, between individuals who are susceptible to ARF and those who are not

News & Events

$2 million grant to develop diagnostic tool for rheumatic fever

The Kids Research Institute Australia & Menzies School of Health Research will lead an international project to develop a diagnostic tool for acute rheumatic fever.

Research

Invasive Infections Caused by Lancefield Groups C/G and A Streptococcus, Western Australia, Australia, 2000–2018

Epidemiologic data on invasive group C/G Streptococcus (iGCGS) infections are sparse internationally. Linked population-level hospital, pathology, and death data were used to describe the disease burden in Western Australia, Australia, during 2000-2018 compared with that of invasive group A Streptococcus (GAS, Streptococcus pyogenes) infections.

Research

Risk factors for group A streptococcal pharyngitis and skin infections: A case control study

Group A streptococcal (GAS) infections can trigger an immune-mediated response resulting in acute rheumatic fever. The role of social and environmental risk factors for GAS pharyngitis and skin infections are not well understood.

Research

Rheumatic heart disease in The Gambia: clinical and valvular aspects at presentation and evolution under penicillin prophylaxis

Rheumatic heart disease (RHD) remains the leading cause of cardiac-related deaths and disability in children and young adults worldwide. In The Gambia, the RHD burden is thought to be high although no data are available and no control programme is yet implemented. We conducted a pilot study to generate baseline data on the clinical and valvular characteristics of RHD patients at first presentation, adherence to penicillin prophylaxis and the evolution of lesions over time.

Research

Rheumatic heart disease in Indigenous young peoples

Indigenous children and young peoples live with an inequitable burden of acute rheumatic fever and rheumatic heart disease. In this Review, we focus on the epidemiological burden and lived experience of these conditions for Indigenous young peoples in Australia, New Zealand, and Canada. We outline the direct and indirect drivers of rheumatic heart disease risk and their mitigation.