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July 08, 2022
Overcrowding link to rheumaic fever confirmed
Tuwhenuaroa Natanahira
Posted On July 8, 2022
Download AudioNew research has found household overcrowding and poor access to primary healthcare are major risk factors for acute rheumatic fever and streptococcal infections of the skin.
Jason Gurney from the University of Otago’s department of Public Health says the study put numbers to something long suspected – that the disease will jump between whānau in small, confined spaces.
It also found open wounds like school sores could contribute to the spread of rheumatic fever.
It illustrates the inequities that exist in the health system.
“It’s also a very important cause of morbidity and mortality in our country because rheumatic fever which you get as a kid can develop to rheumatic heart disease which has very strong morbidity and mortality later in life,” he says.
Associate Professor Gurney says the study had a personal edge, as his father has rheumatic heart disease as a consequence of getting rheumatic fever at age 14 growing up in Taitokerau.
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