Heart, Lung and Circulation
Volume 16, Issue 4 , Pages 254-259 , August 2007

Apparent Contrasting Rates of Pharyngitis and Pyoderma in Regions where Rheumatic Heart Disease is Highly Prevalent

  • Malcolm McDonald, MBBS

      Affiliations

    • Menzies School of Health Research, Charles Darwin University, Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia
    • Corresponding Author InformationCorresponding author at: Menzies School of Health Research, PO Box 41096, Casuarina, NT 0811, Australia. Tel.: +61 8 89228196; fax: +61 8 89227876.
    • ,
  • Alex Brown, MBBS

      Affiliations

    • Menzies School of Health Research, Alice Springs Campus, Charles Darwin University, Northern Territory, Australia
    • ,
  • Tahnia Edwards, RN

      Affiliations

    • Centre for Remote Health, Alice Springs, Northern Territory, Australia
    • ,
  • Alex Hope, MBBS

      Affiliations

    • The Ltyentye Apurte Health Centre, Ltyentye Apurte, Northern Territory, Australia
    • ,
  • Maryanne Amu, RN

      Affiliations

    • The Ltyentye Apurte Health Centre, Ltyentye Apurte, Northern Territory, Australia
    • ,
  • Fran Morey, MAppSci

      Affiliations

    • Medvet Science, Alice Springs, Northern Territory, Australia
    • ,
  • Bart J. Currie, MBBS

      Affiliations

    • Menzies School of Health Research, Charles Darwin University, Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia
    • ,
  • Jonathan R. Carapetis, MBBS, PhD

      Affiliations

    • Menzies School of Health Research, Charles Darwin University, Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia

Received 23 October 2006 ,Revised 18 December 2006 ,Accepted 7 February 2007.

References 

  1. Australian Bureau of Statistics . The health and welfare of Australia's Aboriginal and Torres Strait Inlander peoples-4704.0. Canberra: Commonwealth Government; 2005;
  2. Ewald DP, Hall GV, Franks CC. An evaluation of a SAFE-style trachoma control program in Central Australia. Med J Aust. 2003;178:65–68
  3. Warchivker I, Tjapangati T, Wakerman J. The turmoil of aboriginal enumeration: mobility and service population analysis in a central Australian community. Aust N Z J Public Health. 2000;24:444–449
  4. Brown A, Purton L, Schaeffer G, Wheaton G, White A. Central Australian Rheumatic Heart Disease Control Program: a report to the Commonwealth, November 2002. NT Dis Control Bull. 2003;10:1–8
  5. Kelly A. Top End Rheumatic Heart Disease Program: a report to the Commonwealth, February–November 2002. NT Dis Control Bull. 2003;10:9–11
  6. Fisher DA, Carapetis JR, Marks PJ, Currie BJ. Acute rheumatic fever (ARF) in non-aboriginal patients in the Northern Territory. Aust N Z J Med. 1998;28:63–64
  7. Carapetis JR, Steer AC, Mulholland EK, Weber M. The global burden of group A streptococcal diseases. Lancet Infect Dis. 2005;5:685–694
  8. Carapetis J, Currie B. Group A streptococcus, pyoderma, and acute rheumatic fever. Lancet. 1996;347:1271–1272
  9. McDonald M, Currie B, Carapetis J. Acute rheumatic fever: a chink in the chain that links the heart to the throat?. Lancet Infect Dis. 2004;4:235–240
  10. McDonald M, Towers RJ, Andrews R, Benger N, Currie BJ, Carapetis JR. Low rates of streptococcal pharyngitis and high rates of pyoderma in communities where rheumatic fever is hyperendemic. Clin Infect Dis. 2006;43:683–689
  11. Lehmann D, Tennant MT, Silva DT, McAullay D, Lannigan F, Coates H, et al. Benefits of swimming pools in two remote Aboriginal communities in Western Australia: intervention study. Br Med J. 2003;327:415–419
  12. Wannamaker L. The chain that links the heart to the throat. Circulation. 1973;48:9–18
  13. CARPA . Standard treatment manual. 4th ed.. Alice Springs, Northern Territory: Central Australian Rural Practitioners Association; 2003;
  14. National Health and Medical Research Council. Values and ethics: guidelines for ethical conduct in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health research. Canberra; 2003.
  15. McDonald M, Towers R, Fagan P, McKinnon M, Benger M, Andrews R, et al. Recovering streptococci from the throat in remote tropical communities: a practical alternative to direct plating. J Clin Microbiol. 2006;44:547–551
  16. Del Mar CB, Glasziou PP, Spinks AB. Antibiotics for sore throat. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2004;CD000023
  17. Schobben X. 2004 Indigenous Community Housing Survey Community Report for Santa Teresa: a report to the Ltyentye Apurte Community Government Council. Darwin: Environmental Health, Northern Territory Department of Health and Community Services; 2004;
  18. Brennan R, Patel M. Acute rheumatic fever and rheumatic heart disease in a rural central Australian Aboriginal community. Med J Aust. 1990;153:335–339
  19. Eissa S, Rosemary L, Binns P, Garstone G, McDonald M. Assessment of a register-based rheumatic heart disease secondary prevention programme in an Australian Aboriginal community. ANZ J Public Health. 2005;29:521–525
  20. Hoffmann S. Incidence and management of sore throat in general practice. Scand J Prim Health Care. 1986;4:S143–S150
  21. Kvaerner KJ, Nafstad P, Jaakkola JJ. Upper respiratory morbidity in preschool children: a cross-sectional study. Arch Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg. 2000;126:1201–1206
  22. Danchin MH, Rogers S, Selvaraj G, Kelpie L, Rankin P, Vorich R, et al. The burden of group A streptococcal pharyngitis in Melbourne families. Indian J Med Res. 2004;119:S144–S147
  23. Williams GS. Group C and G streptococci infections: emerging challenges. Clin Lab Sci. 2003;16:209–213
  24. Davies MR, Tran TN, McMillan DJ, Gardiner DL, Currie BJ, Sriprakash KS. Inter-species genetic movement may blur the epidemiology of streptococcal diseases in endemic regions. Microbes Infect. 2005;7:1128–1138
  25. Currie B. Group A streptococcal infections of the skin: molecular advances but limited therapeutic progress. Curr Opin Infect Dis. 2006;19:132–138
  26. Currie BJ, Carapetis JR. Skin infections and infestations in Aboriginal communities in northern Australia. Australas J Dermatol. 2000;41:139–143
  27. Bailie RS, Runcie MJ. Household infrastructure in aboriginal communities and the implications for health improvement. Med J Aust. 2001;175:363–366
  28. Wannamaker L. The epidemiology of streptococcal infections. In:  McCarty M editors. Streptococcal infections. New York: Columbia University Press; 1954;p. 157–175
  29. Gordis L, Lilienfeld A, Rodriguez R. Studies in the epidemiology and preventability of rheumatic fever II: socio-economic factors and the incidence of acute attacks. J Chron Dis. 1969;21:655–666
  30. Steer AC, Carapetis JR, Nolan TM, Shann F. Systematic review of rheumatic heart disease prevalence in children in developing countries: the role of environmental factors. J Paediatr Child Health. 2002;38:229–234
  31. Bailie RS, Stevens M, McDonald E, Halpin S, Brewster D, Robinison G, et al. Skin infection, housing and social circumstances in children living in remote Indigenous communities: testing and methodological approaches. BMC Public Health. 2005;5:128
  32. Gibbs S. Skin disease and socioeconomic conditions in rural Africa: Tanzania. Int J Dermatol. 1996;35:633–639
  33. Brahmadathan KN, Rajkumari BR, Jose JM, Abraham V, Joseph A. Molecular epidemiology of group A streptococcal infections in south Indian children. In: Proceedings of the XVIth Lancefield International Symposium on Streptococci and Streptococcal Diseases. Palm Cove, Queensland, Australia. 2005;
  34. Kumar R, Chakraborti A, Vohra H, Bandhyopadhyay S, Sagar V, Sharma V, et al. Epidemiology of group A streptococci in a North Indian community. In: Proceedings of the XVIth Lancefield International Symposium on Streptococci and Streptococcal Diseases. Palm Cove, Queensland, Australia. 2005;
  35. Guilherme L, Fae KC, Oshiro SE, Tanaka AC, Pomerantzeff PM, Kalil J. Rheumatic fever: how S. pyogenes-primed peripheral T-cells trigger heart valve lesions. Ann N Y Acad Sci. 2005;1051:132–140

PII: S1443-9506(07)00129-1

doi: 10.1016/j.hlc.2007.02.087

Heart, Lung and Circulation
Volume 16, Issue 4 , Pages 254-259 , August 2007

Article Tools

* Image Usage & Resolution