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Research
Improving the well-being for young people living with rheumatic heart disease: A peer support pilot program through Danila Dilba Health ServiceAboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in Australia have an inequitable burden of acute rheumatic fever (ARF) and rheumatic heart disease (RHD), concentrated among young people and necessitating ongoing medical care during adolescence. There is an unmet need for improved well-being and support for these young people to complement current biomedical management.
Research
Streptolysins are the primary inflammasome activators in macrophages during Streptococcus pyogenes infectionGroup A Streptococcus (GAS) is a Gram-positive bacterial pathogen that causes an array of infectious diseases in humans. Accumulating clinical evidence suggests that proinflammatory interleukin (IL)-1beta signaling plays an important role in GAS disease progression.
Research
Clinical Evaluation and Diagnosis of Acute Rheumatic FeverThe 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.
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Primary prevention of acute rheumatic feverAcute rheumatic fever (ARF) is an abnormal immune reaction following Streptococcus pyogenes (Strep A) infection of the throat, and likely the skin. Primary prevention is the prompt and appropriate antibiotic treatment of Strep A infection, and it can reduce the risk of developing ARF and subsequent rheumatic heart disease.
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Development of a sustained release implant of benzathine penicillin G for secondary prophylaxis of rheumatic heart diseaseRegular intramuscular (i.m.) benzathine penicillin G (BPG) injections have been the cornerstone of rheumatic heart disease (RHD) secondary prophylaxis since the 1950s. Patient adherence to IM BPG is poor, largely due to pain, the need for regular injections every 3-4 weeks and health sector delivery challenges in resource-limited settings. There is an urgent need for new approaches for secondary prophylaxis, such as an implant which could provide sustained penicillin concentrations for more than 6 months.
Research
The evidence that rheumatic heart disease control programs in Australia are making an impactRheumatic heart disease (RHD) comprises heart-valve damage caused by acute rheumatic fever (ARF). The Australian Government Rheumatic Fever Strategy funds RHD Control Programs to support detection and management of ARF and RHD. We assessed epidemiological changes during the years of RHD Control Program operation.
News & Events
Warm Welcome for the Neonatal Infection and Immunity TeamClinical Professor Tobias Strunk, Dr Andrew Currie and their Neonatal Infection and Immunity Team have become the newest members of the Wesfarmers Centre of Vaccines and Infectious Diseases.
News & Events
Visit from On Track Watch Community Researchers helps build a pathway of looking at two different culturesFor Aboriginal Community Researchers Minitja Marawili and Yunutju Gondarra, the work of the END RHD CRE is deeply personal.
News & Events
Laqueisha's story: living with RHDLaqueisha was just five years old when she was diagnosed with rheumatic heart disease and sent on a 5,000km return trip to Perth for major heart surgery.
Research
Low positive predictive value of International Classification of Diseases, 10th Revision codes in relation to rheumatic heart disease: a challenge for global surveillanceWe outline a series of research initiatives to improve identification of RHD in administrative data thereby contributing to monitoring the RHD burden globally