Rheumatic fever is an inflammatory disease involving the joints and heart.
It occurs when the immune system strongly reacts to infection with strep bacteria. Fitzgerald said, including poisoning, murder, syphilis, and kidney failure. She presented her diagnosis Friday at the Sixth Annual Clinical Pathologic Conference in Baltimore, Maryland. Late in 1791, during a fever epidemic, Mozart suddenly developed a high fever, headache, sweats, and severe swelling and pain in his hands and feet, Fitzgerald told Reuters Health in an interview. Two weeks later Mozart's entire body swelled and he developed nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and a persistent rash.