Learn about: Acute Rheumatic Fever (ARF), Rheumatic Heart Disease (RHD) and Group A streptococcus
NEPHU have developed three factsheets for our general community to be informed about: Acute Rheumatic Fever (ARF), Rheumatic Heart Disease (RHD) and Group A streptococcus. Each illness occurs one after another and symptoms recognised early on can help to prevent the illness from becoming the following condition.
Group A streptococcus (strep A, or GAS) is a type of bacteria that can cause skin, soft tissue and respiratory tract infections.
Acute rheumatic fever is an illness that can occur two to three weeks after an untreated infection with the group A streptococcus (called strep A or GAS) bacteria.
Rheumatic heart disease (RHD) is a serious disease of the heart involving damage to one or more of the four small heart valves.
The three factsheets provide people to understand what is the cause of the illness, the people in our communities who are most at risk, what to look for as symptoms and preventative measures to reduce the risks further.
