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Acute rheumatic fever (ARF) is an important cause of heart disease in Indigenous people of northern and central Australia.
Streptococcus pyogenes is commonly believed to be resistant to trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole (SXT), resulting in reservations about using SXT for skin and...
Quantification of the disease burden caused by different risks informs prevention by providing an account of health loss different to that provided by a...
In Australia, rheumatic heart disease (RHD) is almost exclusively restricted to Aboriginal Australian and Torres Strait Islander people with children being...
Globally, ARF and RHD cause more than a quarter of a million deaths and substantial disability each year.
The END RHD CRE will undertake a number of projects across several disciplines of research including epidemiology, biomedical sciences; implementation and translation; and understanding the RHD community with a special focus on documenting the experiences of those living with the disease.
This work will be undertaken in collaboration with The Kids Research Institute Australia and Australian based research teams to better understand how Penicillin works in Māori and Pacific children/teens who receive monthly BPG injections.
Goal: Characterize the pattern of contemporary and endemic ARF and develop a biological signature to improve sensitivity and specificity of ARF diagnosis.
Asymptomatic carriage of Streptococcus pyogenes (Strep A) may contribute to transmission, yet its role remains poorly understood and evidence on optimal detection methods is limited. While self-collected throat swabs are used in infectious disease surveillance, their value for identifying asymptomatic Strep A carriage in adults is uncertain. This pilot prospective cohort study, conducted at a Perth medical research institute between August and October 2024, assessed feasibility and acceptability of self-collection, with sensitivity as a secondary objective.
Group A Streptococcus (Strep A) causes a wide spectrum of diseases, ranging from pharyngitis and impetigo to severe invasive infections and immune-mediated conditions such as acute rheumatic fever, rheumatic heart disease and acute post-streptococcal glomerulonephritis. Contemporary data on the global burden of Strep A diseases are lacking.