Rheumatic Fever GP Information
Rheumatic Fever: A problem illness in the Bay of Plenty
Rheumatic fever is a common problem in the Bay of Plenty, where the annual incidence is almost three times the New Zealand rate. Accordingly Toi Te Ora – Public Health Service is launching a rheumatic fever awareness raising campaign. A key message is ‘sore throats matter’. The underlying premise is that early diagnosis and treatment of strep throat will reduce the incidence of Acute Rheumatic Fever (ARF).
As a result of the campaign, there may be an increase in the number of parents requesting throat swabs for their children. Consequently, we are also promoting the use of the Rheumatic Fever Guidelines published by National Heart Foundation of New Zealand.
This web page contains links to the Rheumatic Fever Guidelines and a series of presentations developed by the World Heart Federation. There is also information on the epidemiology of rheumatic fever in the Bay of Plenty and Lakes DHBs.
Letter from Dr Phil Shoemack, Medical Officer of Health 19 January 2010 Sore throats and rheumatic fever: Advice for GPs and Practice Nurses
National Heart Foundation of New Zealand - Rheumatic Fever Guidelines
- Rheumatic Fever Guideline 1: Diagnosis, Management and Secondary Prevention
- Rheumatic Fever Guideline 2: Group A Streptococcal Sore Throat Management
- Rheumatic Fever Guideline 3: Proposed Rhuematic Fever Primary Prevention Programme
- A summary of the New Zealand Guidelines for Rheumatic Fever
Algorithm 1 to 4
- Algorithm 1: A Guide for Diagnosis of Acute Rheumatic Fever (ARF)
- Algorithm 2: A Guide for the Use of Echocardiography in Acute Rheumatic Fever (ARF)
- Algorithm 3: A Guide for the Duration of Secondary Prophylaxis in Acute Rheumatic Fever (ARF)
- Algorithm 4: A Guide for Sore Throat Management
World Heart Federation (WHF)
WHF PowerPoint Rheumatic Fever presentations
- Introduction to Acute Rheumatic Fever and Rheumatic Heart Disease
- Diagnosis and Management of Acute Rheumatic Fever
- Diagnosis and Management of Rheumatic Heart Disease
- Secondary Prophylaxis of Rheumatic Heart Disease
Rheumatic Fever in the Bay of Plenty and Lakes district
PowerPoint presentations
- Rheumatic Fever in the Bay Of Plenty DHB – A bigger problem than we thought
- Sore throat management
- CME Questions
- Dr Jim Miller (MOH) Poster Presentation (Faculty of Public Health Scotland - Annual Conference 2009)
Toi Te Ora – Public Health Service Reports
- Loring, B (2008) Rheumatic Fever in the Bay of Plenty and Lakes District Health Boards: A review of the evidence and recommendations for action.
- De Wet, N (2009) Epidemiology Update – Rheumatic Fever in Bay Of Plenty and Lakes District Health Board areas
The Opotiki Rheumatic Fever prevention project
The school based sore throat swabbing project led by Te Ao Hou PHO started on 12 October in Opotiki. Two community health workers from Whakatohea Iwi health services visit Opotiki primary schools three times per week and take throat swabs from consented children reporting a sore throat. The swabs are tested for Group A Streptococcus (GAS) bacteria. A ten day course of antibiotics is provided by the General Practitioner for any GAS positive child. The results are summarised in the table below.
Summary of throat swab information from October 2009 to April 2010
| Total number of swabs taken | 664 |
| Total number of swabs positive for Group A Strep | 70 |
| Percentage of positive results | 11% |
