Summary
Acute rheumatic fever, which can lead to rheumatic heart disease, is very rare in Australia except among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and young people.
The incidence of acute rheumatic fever among these children in regional areas of northern Australia is much higher than recently reported rates in other countries.
The problem (772K PDF)
Australian registers for rheumatic heart disease
What the Top End and Central Australian registers tell us about incidence and prevalence (186K PDF)
National data on acute rheumatic fever and rheumatic heart disease (196K PDF)
International comparisons (194K PDF)
Discussion
End matter: Abbreviations; Methods; Data sources and data quality issues (104K PDF); References; Acknowledgments