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In Australia, rheumatic heart disease (RHD) is almost exclusively restricted to Aboriginal Australian and Torres Strait Islander people with children being...

Globally, ARF and RHD cause more than a quarter of a million deaths and substantial disability each year.

The diagnosis of acute rheumatic fever relies on a combination of clinical evaluation and laboratory studies. Diagnosis is usually made using the Jones criteria, which have recently been updated in 2015.

The RHD Endgame Strategy: the blueprint to eliminate rheumatic heart disease in Australia by 2031 (the Endgame Strategy) is the blueprint to eliminate rheumatic heart disease (RHD) in Australia by 2031. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people live with one of the highest per capita burdens of RHD in the world.

Benzathine penicillin G has been used as monthly deep intramuscular (IM) injections since the 1950s for secondary prevention of acute rheumatic fever and rheumatic heart disease (RHD). Injection frequency and pain are major programmatic barriers for adherence, prompting calls for development of better long-acting penicillin preparations to prevent RHD.

Jonathan Judy Alex Jeffrey Rosemary Carapetis AM Katzenellenbogen Brown Cannon Wyber AM MBBS FRACP FAFPHM PhD FAHMS BSc (Occ Ther) BSc Hons (

This retrospective study assessed maternal and perinatal outcomes for women with rheumatic heart disease admitted to the largest tertiary obstetric hospital

Benzathine penicillin G availability should be addressed and African health workers’ knowledge and practices need to be augmented

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).

Jonathan Asha Dylan Rosemary Janessa Jeffrey Carapetis AM Bowen Barth Wyber Pickering Cannon AM MBBS FRACP FAFPHM PhD FAHMS BA MBBS DCH FRACP PhD