User:Mr. Ibrahem/Rheumatic fever
Medical condition / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Rheumatic fever (RF) is an inflammatory disease that can involve the heart, joints, skin, and brain.[2] The disease typically develops two to four weeks after a streptococcal throat infection.[2] Signs and symptoms include fever, multiple painful joints, involuntary muscle movements, and occasionally a characteristic non-itchy rash known as erythema marginatum.[2] The heart is involved in about half of the cases.[3] Damage to the heart valves, known as rheumatic heart disease (RHD), usually occurs after repeated attacks but can sometimes occur after one.[3] The damaged valves may result in heart failure, atrial fibrillation and infection of the valves.[3]
Rheumatic fever | |
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Other names | Inflammatory rheumatism,[1] acute rheumatic fever (ARF) |
Rheumatic heart disease at autopsy with characteristic findings (thickened mitral valve, thickened chordae tendineae, hypertrophied left ventricular myocardium). | |
Specialty | Cardiology |
Symptoms | Fever, multiple painful joints, involuntary muscle movements, erythema marginatum[2] |
Complications | Rheumatic heart disease, heart failure, atrial fibrillation, infection of the valves[3] |
Usual onset | 2–4 weeks after a streptococcal throat infection, age 5-15 years[2] |
Causes | Autoimmune disease triggered by Streptococcus pyogenes[2] |
Risk factors | Genetics, malnutrition, poverty[3] |
Diagnostic method | Based on symptoms and infection history[4] |
Prevention | Antibiotics for strep throat, improved sanitation[3][5] |
Treatment | Prolonged periods of antibiotics, valve replacement surgery, valve repair[3] |
Frequency | 325,000 children a year[3] |
Deaths | 319,400 (2015)[6] |
Rheumatic fever may occur following an infection of the throat by the bacterium Streptococcus pyogenes.[2] If the infection is left untreated, rheumatic fever occurs in up to three percent of people.[7] The underlying mechanism is believed to involve the production of antibodies against a person's own tissues.[3] Due to their genetics, some people are more likely to get the disease when exposed to the bacteria than others.[3] Other risk factors include malnutrition and poverty.[3] Diagnosis of RF is often based on the presence of signs and symptoms in combination with evidence of a recent streptococcal infection.[4]
Treating people who have strep throat with antibiotics, such as penicillin, decreases the risk of developing rheumatic fever.[5] In order to avoid antibiotic misuse this often involves testing people with sore throats for the infection; however, testing might not be available in the developing world.[3] Other preventive measures include improved sanitation.[3] In those with rheumatic fever and rheumatic heart disease, prolonged periods of antibiotics are sometimes recommended.[3] Gradual return to normal activities may occur following an attack.[3] Once RHD develops, treatment is more difficult.[3] Occasionally valve replacement surgery or valve repair is required.[3] Otherwise complications are treated as per normal.[3]
Rheumatic fever occurs in about 325,000 children each year and about 33.4 million people currently have rheumatic heart disease.[3][8] Those who develop RF are most often between the ages of 5 and 15,[2] with 20% of first-time attacks occurring in adults.[9] The disease is most common in the developing world and among indigenous peoples in the developed world.[3] In 2015 it resulted in 319,400 deaths down from 374,000 deaths in 1990.[6][10] Most deaths occur in the developing world where as many as 12.5% of people affected may die each year.[3] Descriptions of the condition are believed to date back to at least the 5th century BCE in the writings of Hippocrates.[11] The disease is so named because its symptoms are similar to those of some rheumatic disorders.[12]