RHEUMATIC FEVER

New Zealand Listener, Volume 12, Issue 304, 20 April 1945, Page 19

RHEUMATIC FEVER

Written for "The Listener" by Dr.

H. B.

Turbott

Director of the Division of

School Hygiene, Health Department.

we cannot prevent as yet, but which affects childret more seriously than any one other disease, and. leaves them often crippled and destined for shorter lives than normal. It is responsible for most of the heart disease in the first half of life in people under 35, Now if we cannot altogether avoid this disease we can, by knowing a little about it, get in early and control its crippling éffects, minimise them, or dodge them by correct treatment. R fever is a disease that The first attack is more likely to occur between the ages of five and 14. It may be a straightforward business, starting with a sore throat, tonsilitis; or cold. The child will be feverish and have nose bleeding. He will be off his food. His joints will become inflamed, swollen, red, and painful. The fever may reach 103 degrees. Usually the pain begins in a single joint, such as the knee or élbow, and later spreads to others. The heart will be beating rapidly, and night sweats may be worrisome, Sometimes there are nodules under the skin and a rash. If your child gets an attack like this, you will ‘call the doctor, who will very promptly tell you it is rheumatic fever and keep your child in bed under treatment. The trouble with rheumatic fever is that it is not often so forthright in its symptoms. The onset may be gradual and unnoticed by parents till damage has been done. A sore throat, a slight fever, a nosebleed, poor appetite, a complaint of growing" Plains in the muscles, or shortlived pains in the joints-this kind of story, specially if the child is irsitable

without any real reason, and is not himself, or develops nervous habits, should mean a visit to the doctor to eliminate rheumatic fever, for if it were rheumatic fever he should be in bed to avoid heart damage. Call the Doctor I have often found a damaged heart at a school examination that was quite unknown to the, parents. Thinking back, they can recall the child had had a period of peevishness, with feverish attacks and fleeting joint pains, but after a few days in bed he had seemed better, so no doctor was referred to. Often one or other parent will confess when questioned that there had been rheumatic fever either in themselves or in their immediate families, but they had not recognised the attack in their child, Fortunately much of the heart damage is slight and the child can live normally on recovery,-but sometinfes slight unrecognised attacks of rheumatic fever can permanently cripple a heart-especi-ally if there should be repeated attacks. The cardinal fact is that the only way to avoid damage to the child’s heart is complete rest in bed until all symptoms and signs disappear. Often the time needed in bed is round about six weeks or’ longer, but the" doctor will decide when it is safe-to get up. Once the child is over the first attack you can help prevent a recurrence by keeping his general health at a high level, through regular sleep, a balanced diet, and dressing to avoid damp and chilling. And you must keep such a child away from other people’s colds and sore throats, as this so far as’ we know is how the rheumatism enters,