Rheumatic fever is a disease that can occur following bacterial infection with Group A Streptococcus. Predisposing infections also include strep throat tonsillitis and skin infections, such as impetigo, caused by Streptococcus pyogenes. Overall, rheumatic fever is rare in Australia; however, the rate of rheumatic fever amongst Indigenous Australians is much higher. Rheumatic fever is a serious condition that can lead to long-term complications, such as rheumatic heart disease.
Causes & Pathophysiology
Most commonly, rheumatic fever occurs following a tonsillitis throat infection with Group A Streptococcus. It can also follow skin infections caused by the same organisms; this is especially the case for many indigenous Australians. The symptoms of rheumatic fever can take up to one month to develop following the initial infection. Rheumatic fever is an acute infection with an interesting pathogenesis. It is the result of the immune system producing antibodies to fight off the group A streptococcus infection. Rheumatic fever is a type-II hypersensitivity reaction, which means that the antibodies produced by the immune system bind to the antigens on the body’s own tissues and cause a response.
Group A Streptococcus organisms have 3 predominant virulence factors which help to establish an infection:
1. M proteins: M proteins are found on the surface of the organism and protect it against phagocytosis. The M proteins prevent the attachment of complement proteins to the cell. Complement proteins which are attached to the bacterium “tag” it for destruction by phagocytic cells, such as neutrophils and macrophages, in a process called opsonisation. By inhibiting this process, the M protein allows the group A streptococcus to survive longer...
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The blood tests performed when post-streptococcal glomerulonephritis is suspected are similar to those discussed above with rheumatic fever. In this condition, blood pressure is often high and should also be measured. A sample of urine may also be assessed to assist in making the diagnosis.
The main treatment for post-streptococcal glomerulonephritis involves a course of antibiotics (usually penicillin) to kill off the remaining Group A Streptococcus. Diuretics may also be prescribed to reduce the amount of fluid in the body and hence the amount of swelling. These may also help to control blood pressure, and in some instances other blood pressure medications may also be used. Unlike rheumatic fever, preventative antibiotic injections are not given to patients with post-streptococcal glomerulonephritis because it is uncommon to have the infection more than once.
There are two types of glomerulonephritis—acute renal failure (ARF) and chronic kidney disease (CKD). The ACF form generally develops suddenly as a result of an infection or illness, such as, group A streptococci bacteria, hepatitis, or in diseases such as lupus or HIV (Mathias, 2013). This type may require dialysis to replace renal function while it lasts, however, kidney function usually returns after the primary illness is treated. Many acute patients will not have any other complications as no permanent damage is done. Whereas CKD is found in a person that has had glomerulonephritis for months to years in some cases and may be asymptomatic until the kidney has become irreversibly damaged. ARF can evolve to become chronic if the glomeruli do not respond to
Croup: Croup is another common airway inflammation caused by virus that can affect the trachea, larynx and possibility the bronchi (Murray, Sidani, & Zoorob, 2011) thus causing infection in the upper respiratory tract. Murray et al. describes it as the most common illness in children under the age of 6 to 36 months and cause for cough mostly when a child cries; acute stridor and hoarseness in febrile children (Murray et al., 2011). It can be a life-threatening situation in the life of the young infant and the family. Croup symptoms exhibit as hoarseness, barking cough, inspiratory stridor, and respiratory distress. I chose this diagnosis as my first preference because when I read the mother’s subjective report it matches that of croup symptoms: a barking cough, no fever, severe at night and when the baby cries, fatigue due to excessiveness of the tears, pain due to inflames and swollen of the airway. Murray et al., led us to understand that the etiologies of this viral causing agent can be traced to the parainfluenza viruses, type 1. (2011). This virus is commonly spread through contact or droplet secretion.
Streptococcus pyogenes, also known as Group A streptococcus (GAS), is a β-hemolytic, Gram-positive bacterium that most commonly causes respiratory disease, including pharyngitis or tonsillitis, as well as skin infections such as impetigo and cellulitis. The organism is transmitted via respiratory droplets or by contact with fomites, and commonly infects young children. In addition to the common clinical presentations associated with S. pyogenes, some individuals develop the postinfectious sequelae of rheumatic fever and glomerulonephritis. Due to the severity of these medical consequences, prophylactic antibiotic use is often recommended for any patients with otherwise mild S. pyogenes infections (21).
Environment, dietary and lifestyle factors play a big role in how rheumatic heart disease is spread. Most developing countries have a higher percentage of people how suffer from rheumatic heart disease because the poor state of the environment they inhabit. Dietary factors can play a role only due to insanitary condition in which food is made not due to the amount of food eaten due the fact that RHD is caused by a bacteria. Lifestyle factors contribute to rheumatic heart disease because most people do not tend to or treat minor cuts they might have had. This article will be about the communication between the cardiovascular system and immune systems and how rheumatic heart disease affects the two.
With the earliest recordings coming from the Fifth Century B.C., streptococcus pyogenes, and more frequently, its symptoms have been prevalent among doctors and historians for hundreds of years. The first mentioning of streptococcus pyogenes is to be credited to Hippocrates, in which he describes the relative symptoms of the flesh-eating bacteria in its early stages. Then depicted by Billroth in 1874, patients carrying erysipelas were determined to have this certain bacterial infection. In 1883, the chain-forming bacteria were isolated by Fehleisen; and in the following year, Rosenbach applied the S. pyogenes name. Further advances in hemolytic and non-hemolytic studies were made by Lancefield in the 1930’s, in which the alpha, beta, and gamma subgroups of the hemolytic structures – detailed and defined by Schottmueller and Brown - were divided into serotypes.
Mononucleosis is a viral disease that affects those usually between the age of ten and thirty-five, although a person at any age can get the disease. This disease found in mainly adolescents and adults seems to only occur in those who escaped the Epstein-Barr virus infection in childhood. It is also known as Glandular Fever, because it affects the lymph nodes in the neck, arm pits and groin. It can last anywhere from one to two weeks to six to eight weeks, some people suffer from mononucleosis for months at a time, but as an individual it depends on your personal recuperation time. Recuperation is a very slow process, which demands a lot of sleep and rest. Being sick for a length of time such as two weeks drains you of strength and energy and as well you lose a lot of your muscles. Balance can also become lost with such an illness, which requires time to develop.
What is Strep Throat you ask? Strep throat is a sore throat with fever caused by streptococcal infection. Sore throats are most commonly caused by viral infections or other irritants such as smoke, allergies, dry air, or a throat injury, and not by a strep infection. A strep infection causes the throat (pharynx) and the tonsils or adenoids to become irritated, inflamed, and painful. Strep throat is caused by streptococcal (strep) bacteria, most often by group A beta-hemolytic streptococcus (GABS). Other types of strep that can sometimes infect the throat are groups C and G strep bacteria. How the strep infection is spread? Strep throat can be passed from person to person. When a person infected with strep throat breathes, coughs, or sneezes, tiny droplets containing the strep bacteria are released into the air and are breathed in by other people.
Most people who are exposed to the fungus experience symptoms, but do not get sick. The signs—fever, cough, and exhaustion—are difficult to distinguish from the flu, and can last for weeks to months. In people with weakened immune systems, the infection can cause more severe conditions such as meningitis or death. There is no vaccine for valley fever, and many in the general public (including the medical community) know very little about the illness. This lack of knowledge has allowed many milder cases to go undiagnosed, leading to underreporting.
Valley fever can cause many different symptoms. The infection mainly affects the lungs. Many of the symptoms resemble symptoms o...
Necrotizing fasciitis is caused most commonly by Streptococcus pyogenes, group A streptococcus, which is the same bacteria that causes common strep throat 8.
A person who has been infected by the disease may experience signs of fatigue, loss of appetite, fever, sore throat, swollen lymph nodes, and a red rash that appears blotchy. Generally the signs become present between ten and twenty-one days after the person has been exposed to and infected by the virus (Silverstein et al., 1998). This is what is known as the incubation period (Plum, J., 2001). The rash is most likely to begin on the chest, back, or the scalp, but will soon spread to the rest of the body. After a couple days of having physical evidence of the infection, the rash will s...
Within hours or a few days the joint, usually the knee or elbow, becomes inflamed. There is an abnormal accumulation of synovial, or joint, fluid, which may be cloudy and contain large numbers of white blood cells. Gonococcal arthritis, a complication of gonorrhea, is the most common form of infectious arthritis. Treatment with antibiotics and aspiration of synovial fluid is usually promptly effective, and only minor residual damage is done to the joint. Occasionally the infection is prolonged and produces joint destruction and requires surgery. Rheumatic Fever This is a form of infectious arthritis caused by hemolytic streptococcus, a bacterium.
Hi I’m Mallorie, I’m 31 years old and this is My Arthritis Story. In the winter of 1995 at the age of 10 I came down with one of the many cases of strep throat. I started getting fevers and complaining of joint pain on a regular basis.
Q fever is a self-limiting disease generally diagnosed retrospectively complicating clinical assessment of pharmacological treatment. Infectious disease specialists suggest that antibiotics should be used in all cases of acute Q fever to prevent complications, on the other hand that treatment measure is solely recommended acute cases. Treatment initiation should be within 3 days of illness detection for antibiotic treatment to be most effective. The pharmaceutical antibiotic of choice for acute Q fever is tetracycline or doxycycline for a period of seven to fourteen days after diagnosis [Raoult 1993]. One study administered doxycycline 100 mg orally twice daily in comparison to erythromycin 500 mg orally every 6 hours for 10 days. Pre-treatment symptoms were similar in both trial groups, but fever was subsided
One of the most common mysteries in the world is the development of autoimmune diseases. An autoimmune disease is when the immune system, which usually keeps your body healthy thinks that your healthy cells are antigens and attacks them. This is irony right? It is against properties of evolution for an immune system to attack itself causing sickness and possibly death if untreated. There are about 80 different types of autoimmune diseases, which usually have periods of little to no symptoms and worsening symptoms. What particularly creates confusion in the world is the autoimmune disease, inflammatory bowel disease, which affects almost about five million people worldwide.