Thirty years ago, in his presentation "The Natural History of Rheumatic Fever," Dr. T. Duckett Jones said, "It has become the order of the day to consider that both the morbidity and the mortality in rheumatic fever have decreased to such an extent as to relegate the problem to a position of unimportance. " He added, "One may wonder, and reach almost any desired conclusion, about what modifying...

SUMMARY Rheumatic heart disease is considered one of the few forms of chronic heart disease which can be effectively prevented today. Yet the incidence of rheumatic fever is still appreciable and the complacency of many physicians and public health officials in regard to the rheumatic fever problem is unwarranted. It is timely, therefore, to reexamine the question of whether this disease can in...

The view that the rheumatic process is initiated or activated by streptococcal respiratory infections has met with wide acceptance. The evidence which has accumulated in support of this conception originated in the long recognized association of tonsillitis and rheumatic fever, as well as the so-called rheumatic sequelae of scarlet fever. The more recent observations of Glover (1), Schlesinger ...

G. C., an Austrian, aged 53 years, and employed as a fireman on an Austrian steamer, was admitted under my care into the Presidency General Hospital, Calcutta, on the 12th June 1893. He was brought to the hospital by one of the officers of the S.S. Aglai, who stated that G. 0. had been ill for ten days suffering from "fever" and pain and swelling in his joints. There was no previous history of ...

PURPOSE OF REVIEW To give an overview of the current hypotheses of the pathogenesis of rheumatic fever and group A streptococcal autoimmune sequelae of the heart valve and brain. RECENT FINDINGS Human monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) derived from rheumatic heart disease have provided evidence for crossreactive autoantibodies that target the dominant group A streptococcal epitope of the group A ca...

Rheumatic heart disease is a neglected post-infectious chronic disease of children and young adults that continues to maim and kill millions of people needlessly. Sub-Saharan Africa is the hotspot of the world, with a prevalence of 5·7 per 1000 in children aged 5–14 years in 2005. This information galvanised the Pan African Society of Cardiology (PASCAR), together with the WHO Regional Offi ce ...

In spite of continued research the pathogenesis of rheumatic fever remains a problem of much complexity. In the pursuit of its aetiology during the past 60 years, intensive bacteriological studies have been carried out, metabolic disturbances have been considered, allergic mechanisms have been incriminated, the role of heredity, dietary deficiency and a host of other factors have been investiga...

In spite of continued research the pathogenesis of rheumatic fever remains a problem of much complexity. In the pursuit of its aetiology during the past 60 years, intensive bacteriological studies have been carried out, metabolic disturbances have been considered, allergic mechanisms have been incriminated, the role of heredity, dietary deficiency and a host of other factors have been investiga...