Rheumatic Fever

Rheumatic Fever is an inflammatory disease caused due to Group A streptococcal infection. It is so called owing to its similarity to rheumatism which involves medical problems affecting the connective tissues and joints. Typically, rheumatic fever develops two to three weeks after being afflicted by streptococcal infections such as strep throat or scarlet fever. Children between the age of 5 and 15 are more prone to get affected by rheumatic fever. The disease can affect many parts of the body such as the brain, heart, joints or skin. Recurring episodes of rheumatic fever most often affect people when they are between 25 to 35 years of age.

Symptoms of Rheumatic Fever

The symptoms of Rheumatic Fever usually appear somewhere between the first and the fifth week after an infection has been caused by the group A streptococcus bacteria. These symptoms include:

• fever
• chest pain
• abdominal pain
• swollen, painful, tender joints (ankles, elbows, wrists)
• palpitations or rapid, fluttering heart beat
• jumpy body movements that cannot be controlled. This is most often seen on the face, feet and hands
• outbursts of unusual behavior such as inappropriate laughing or crying
• sore throat without other cold symptoms such as a runny nose
• tender, swollen lymph nodes with a sore throat
• general weakness and fatigue
• shortness of breath
• bumps or nodules that appear under the skin
• skin rashes
• difficulty in swallowing
• discharge of blood from the nose

Treatment of Rheumatic Fever

There is no actual cure for rheumatic fever but medication can be provided to alleviate the pain caused by some of the symptoms. Recurrent occurrence of the streptococcal infection can be prevented by administering penicillin to the patient. Aspirin is usually given to reduce fever and sometimes, corticosteroids are given to the patient to combat joint pain and swelling.

Administering low doses of antibiotics such as penicillin, erythromycin or sulfadiazine over a long-term period will help in preventing strep throat from occurring again.

Bed rest will be recommended for some patients in order to give the body some time to heal. Intake of fluids should be increased and the patient should have at least 6-8 glasses of water per day.

Complications of Rheumatic Fever

Depending on the severity of the initial attack of the disease, some patients may develop the following complications:

• Heart inflammation: inflammation of the muscle or lining of the heart
• Rheumatic Heart Disease: problems causes in the condition of the heart due to previous episode of rheumatic fever
• Sydenham Chorea: involuntary / spasmodic movements of the body
• Arrhythmias: heart rhythm disorder
• Endocarditis: deals with abnormalities caused to the endocardium (innermost tissues that lines the heart’s chambers) – inflammation of the heart valves or the lining of its chambers can be caused due to rheumatic fever
• Congestive heart failure: a very serious condition where the heart is unable to pump sufficient blood to the rest of the body
• Pericarditis: inflammation of the pericardium or the sac-like covering of the heart

Prevention of Rheumatic Fever

Physicians do not know how to reduce the pace of the damage caused to heart valves due to rheumatic fever. Therefore, it is best to nip this problem in the bud and promptly treat diseases caused due to streptococcal infections with the timely intake of antibiotics.