How is rheumatic fever detected

The length of bed rest will depend on how severe your child's illness is. Bed rest may range from 2 to 12 weeks. If the illness severely attacks a child's heart, this may damage heart valves and cause heart disease. In this case, your child may not be allowed to do some kinds of physical activity and sports. If the heart was damaged by the fever, your child will need to take special care when going to the dentist in the future.

He or she may need to take antibiotics before having dental work done. This helps lower the chance of an infection traveling to the heart during a dental procedure. Talk with your child's healthcare provider for more information. Many cases of rheumatic fever may be prevented by quickly and correctly treating strep throat with antibiotics.

Having rheumatic fever increases your child's chances of having the disease again. This is at highest risk during the first 3 years. The chance of having the disease again lessens with age and time.

After having rheumatic fever, your child will need to take antibiotics every month. These are to help lessen the chance of having rheumatic fever again.

Often by the time a child is 18, the antibiotic therapy may be stopped. Small sensors are taped to your skin to pick up the electrical activity. Chest X-ray. An X-ray may be done to check your lungs and see if your heart is enlarged. Cardiac MRI. This is an imaging test that takes detailed pictures of the heart.

It may be used to get a more precise look at the heart valves and heart muscle. Blood tests. Certain blood tests may be used to look for infection and inflammation. Treatment depends in large part on how much damage has been done to the heart valves. In severe cases, treatment may include surgery to replace or repair a badly damaged valve.

The best treatment is to prevent rheumatic fever. Antibiotics can usually treat strep infections and keep rheumatic fever from developing. Anti-inflammatory drugs may be used to reduce inflammation and lower the risk of heart damage. Other medicines may be needed to manage heart failure. People who have had rheumatic fever are often given daily or monthly antibiotic treatments, possibly for life, to prevent recurrent infections and lower the risk of further heart damage.

To reduce inflammation, aspirin, steroids, or non-steroidal medicines may be given. Heart failure. This can occur from either a severely narrowed or leaking heart valve. How is rheumatic fever diagnosed? What treatments are effective against rheumatic fever? What are the risk factors for rheumatic fever? How is rheumatic fever prevented? What complications are associated with rheumatic fever?

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Management of ARF is based on confirming the diagnosis, determining whether the heart is involved using an echocardiogram ultrasound of the heart , excluding other potential conditions that look like ARF, treating the Strep A infection and relieving symptoms.

Ongoing care in hospital includes close monitoring, antibiotics, rest, pain management, relief of other symptoms as required e. Longer term management focuses on preventing recurrent ARF: regular, long-term secondary prophylaxis, prompt treatment for sore throats and skin sores, and preventing the development or progression of, rheumatic heart disease.

Rheumatic heart disease RHD is diagnosed using an echocardiogram ultrasound machine. In the World Heart Federation published an evidence-based guideline for diagnosing RHD on echocardiogram, including classifications for mild, moderate and severe RHD. There is also a borderline RHD classification for people aged under 20 years.

Before echocardiography was widely available, RHD was commonly diagnosed using a stethoscope to identify abnormal heart sounds murmurs. Diagnosis of RHD with echocardiography has been found to be more accurate than using a stethoscope alone. Screening is also performed using echocardiogram machines. Management focuses on reducing symptoms, and preventing complications associated with RHD.