Rheumatic fever Rheumatic fever is an inflammatory disease that can affect many connective tissues of the body, especially those of the heart, joints, brain or skin. Anyone can get acute rheumatic fever, but it usually occurs in children age five to 15 years. However, the most common form of rheumatic heart disease relates to the heart valves, particularly the mitral valve. It may take several years for valve damage to develop or symptoms to emerge. If heart damage from rheumatic fever is identified in childhood or young adulthood, preventative antibiotics may be recommended daily until about the age of 25 to 30 to prevent recurrence of rheumatic fever and to help avoid the development of endocarditis.
Further therapy depends on the type of heart damage.
Rheumatic heart disease has become relatively rare in Canada since it was shown that antibiotics could prevent streptococcal infection from developing into Rheumatic fever. Any child with a persistent sore throat should have a throat culture to check for strep infection. Penicillin or another antibiotics will usually prevent the development of rheumatic fever from strep throat. Some risk factors for heart disease and stroke can't be altered. Other risk factors can be modified by lifestyle changes.