How Do You Know if You Have Hadrheumatic Fever

Rheumatic fever (acute rheumatic fever) is a affliction that can touch on the heart, joints, brain, and skin. Rheumatic fever can develop if strep throat and carmine fever infections are non treated properly. Early diagnosis of these infections and handling with antibiotics are key to preventing rheumatic fever.

• How Yous Get Rheumatic Fever
• Rheumatic Fever Is Not Contagious
• Fever and Painful, Tender Joints Are Common Signs and Symptoms
• Children Most Often Affected
• Many Tests, Considerations Help Doctors Diagnose Rheumatic Fever
• Handling Focuses on Managing Inflammation, Symptoms
• Serious Complications Include Long-term Center Harm
• Protect Yourself and Others

How You Get Rheumatic Fever

Rheumatic fever may develop later on strep throat or cherry-red fever infections that are not treated properly. Bacteria chosen grouping A Streptococcus or grouping A strep crusade strep throat and reddish fever. Information technology normally takes about 1 to 5 weeks after strep throat or cerise fever for rheumatic fever to develop. Rheumatic fever is idea to be caused by a response of the body'southward defense organization — the immune system. The allowed arrangement responds to the before strep throat or scarlet fever infection and causes a generalized inflammatory response.

Rheumatic Fever Is Not Contagious

People cannot take hold of rheumatic fever from someone else because it is an immune response and non an infection. Notwithstanding, people with strep pharynx or cherry fever tin spread grouping A strep to others, primarily through respiratory droplets.

Fever and Painful, Tender Joints Are Common Signs and Symptoms

Symptoms of rheumatic fever can include:

• Fever
• Painful, tender joints (arthritis), most ordinarily in the knees, ankles, elbows, and wrists
• Symptoms of congestive heart failure, including breast pain, shortness of jiff, fast heartbeat
• Fatigue
• Jerky, uncontrollable body movements (called "chorea")
• Painless lumps (nodules) nether the peel nigh joints (this is a rare symptom)
• Rash that appears every bit pinkish rings with a clear center (this is a rare symptom)

In addition, someone with rheumatic fever tin can have:

• A new middle murmur
• An enlarged eye
• Fluid around the heart

Children Near Often Affected

Although anyone tin can get rheumatic fever, it is more than mutual in school-historic period children (five through xv years old). Rheumatic fever is very rare in children younger than 3 years old and adults.

Infectious illnesses, including group A strep, tend to spread wherever large groups of people gather together. Crowded weather condition can increment the adventure of getting strep throat or cherry-red fever, and thus rheumatic fever. These settings include:

• Schools
• Daycare centers
• Military training facilities

Someone who had rheumatic fever in the by is more likely to get rheumatic fever again if they get strep throat or scarlet fever again.

Doctors wait to see how well the heart is working when diagnosing rheumatic fever.

Many Tests, Considerations Help Doctors Diagnose Rheumatic Fever

There is no single test used to diagnose rheumatic fever. Instead, doctors tin look for signs of illness, bank check the patient's medical history, and use many tests, including:

• A throat swab to expect for a group A strep infection
• A blood exam to wait for antibodies that would show if the patient recently had a group A strep infection
• A test of how well the heart is working (electrocardiogram or EKG)
• A test that creates a movie of the centre muscle working (echocardiography or echo)

Handling Focuses on Managing Inflammation, Symptoms

Doctors treat symptoms of rheumatic fever with medicines like aspirin to reduce fever, pain, and general inflammation. In addition, all patients with rheumatic fever should get antibiotics that treat group A strep infections. People who develop rheumatic middle illness with symptoms of heart failure may crave medicines to assistance manage this as well.

Serious Complications Include Long-term Centre Damage

If rheumatic fever is non treated promptly, long-term heart damage (called rheumatic heart disease) may occur. Rheumatic heart disease weakens the valves between the chambers of the heart. Severe rheumatic center illness tin can require heart surgery and effect in death.

Protect Yourself and Others

Having a group A strep infection does not protect someone from getting infected again in the time to come. People can also become rheumatic fever more than than once. However, at that place are things people can do to protect themselves and others.

Practiced Hygiene Helps Prevent Grouping A Strep Infections

The best way to keep from getting or spreading grouping A strep infections such as strep throat or cerise fever is to wash your easily often, especially afterwards coughing or sneezing and before preparing foods or eating.

Antibiotics Are Cardinal to Handling and Prevention

The primary ways to prevent rheumatic fever are to

• Care for group A strep infections similar strep throat and scarlet fever with antibiotics
• Prevent group A strep infections in the first place
• Use preventive antibiotics for people who had rheumatic fever in the past

Preventive antibiotics help protect people who had rheumatic fever from getting it once again. Doctors besides phone call this prophylaxis (pro-fuh-LAK-sister) or "secondary prevention." People may need antibody prophylaxis over a period of many years (oftentimes until 21 years old). Prophylaxis tin can include daily antibiotics by mouth or a shot into the muscle every few weeks.

Top of Page

beckerwitle1961.blogspot.com

Source: https://www.cdc.gov/groupastrep/diseases-public/rheumatic-fever.html

Share this post