RHD Action

• Australia
• English
• Clinician - community health worker

"Don't miss out on the things you love" If you have rheumatic fever or rheumatic heart disease, you need a penicillin needle every 21-28 days. Miss one needle and you could miss out on a whole lot more.

This support resource is to be used together with the SA Health Rheumatic Heart Disease Calendar.

The Rheumatic Heart Disease Calendar can also be used as a flip chart for educating your patients and their families about rheumatic fever, rheumatic heart disease and the importance of regular penicillin injections. This support resource will guide you through what to say to patients and their families. It outlines what each page of the calendar focuses on, and suggests topics to discuss for each month.

The calendar is designed to be interactive and encourage your patient and their family to think about why protecting their heart is important to them – what is it in life that they don’t want to miss out on? You can write these reasons on the last page and the patient can take the calendar home.

The other information you can write on the calendar is when they are due to finish their needles – this will usually be in the cardiology letter. If it’s not, you can confirm with us what the date should be.
The stickers are for use on the calendar. The yellow heart is to indicate when the next needle is due and the green sticker is to put on the calendar when they have had their needle. You can either ask the patient to put the stickers on themselves, or get them to bring the calendar back in to the clinic each time so you can do it together.

All the information in these notes is based on best practice guidelines as per the Australian guideline for prevention, diagnosis and management of acute rheumatic fever and rheumatic heart disease
(2nd edition) 2012. For more information visit www.rhdaustralia.org.au.

Rheumatic heart disease calendar developed for people living with rheumatic fever and rheumatic heart disease by the SA Rheumatic Heart Disease Control Program

• Australia
• English
• People living with RF/RHD

"Don't miss out on the things you love" If you have rheumatic fever or rheumatic heart disease, you need a penicillin needle every 21-28 days. Miss one needle and you could miss out on a whole lot more.

Rheumatic heart disease calendar developed for people living with rheumatic fever and rheumatic heart disease by the SA Rheumatic Heart Disease Control Program

• International
• English
• Specialist clinician - cardiology

Lecture on rheumatic heart disease prepared by Dr Sunanto Ng, MD, MSc, PhD (Cardiologist)

• International
• English
• Clinician - community health worker

The RHD Register databases (developed by the World Heart Federation) are intended to support registration of people with rheumatic fever and rheumatic heart disease and report disease in the community. Specifically, the registers help to identify people requiring high level acute care and those who need long-term treatment. The registers and supporting documents have been designed following testing and use by RHD control programmes.

• International
• English
• Communities

Rheumatic heart disease comprises a small proportion of the total global disease burden according to current estimates. A rare complication of a streptococcal throat infection, rheumatic heart disease causes heart valve damage and progressive heart failure. The cause and course of this disease can be difficult to explain to policy-makers and to people at risk. The relative burden and complexity of the disease have contributed to its neglect by governments, donors and decision-makers. We argue that the World Health Organization (WHO) and national governments should rekindle their rheumatic heart disease control programmes.

Bulletin of the World Health Organization 2014;92:768-770.

doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.2471/BLT.13.134486

• International
• English
• Communities

WHO factsheet on cardiovascular diseases (including rheumatic heart disease)

• International
• English
• People living with RF/RHD

Mitral regurgitation is where blood leaks back through the mitral valve in the heart as the valve does not close properly. This increases the pressure in the left atrium and in the blood vessels coming from the lungs. This may lead to various problems and symptoms, depending on the severity of the leak. Medication can help to ease symptoms. Surgery to repair or replace the valve may be needed.

• International
• English
• People living with RF/RHD

Mitral stenosis is a narrowing of the mitral valve in the heart. This restricts the flow of blood through the valve. Back pressure which builds up behind the narrowed valve can cause various problems and symptoms. The more severe the narrowing, the more serious the problems. Medication can help to ease symptoms. Surgery to stretch, repair or replace the valve may be needed.

• International
• English
• People living with RF/RHD

This factsheet gives an overview of heart valve disease.

• International
• English
• Communities

Former Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd addressing the launch of RHD Action in New York on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly, 2015.

• Australia
• English
• People living with RF/RHD

INR record book and quick guide to warfarin treatment.

• Australia
• People living with RF/RHD

Use this card to keep track of your INR results and daily dose.

Use this card to record the date of your INR test and your INR result. As a reminder, write down the the dose you need to take each day of the week.

• Australia
• English
• Media

Rheumatic heart disease (RHD) is responsible for the premature deaths of thousands of young people under the age of twenty-five each day around the world. But it's hoped a new resource book will help lower that toll.

Radio Australia, ABC

Presenter:   Heather Jarvis 
Speakers:    Dr Rosemary Wyber, Program Manager, Rheumatic Heart Disease, (RhEACH) Telethon Kids Institute, Perth, Western Australia.

• Australia
• English
• Specialist clinician - cardiology

Although acute rheumatic fever (ARF) and its longterm consequence rheumatic heart disease (RHD) are now uncommon in industrialised countries, RHD remains the most common form of paediatric heart disease in the world. This is because of its high prevalence in developing countries where it is often the most common cause of cardiac mortality in children and adults aged less than 40 years.

• International
• English
• Communities

Rheumatic fever (RF) used to be a fairly common disease amongst children in developed countries until about the middle of the 20th century. It was a major cause of death in children until 1960 and a common cause of chronic structural heart disease in developed countries. In developing countries it still remains a major cause of death and heart disease.