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Kimberley Aboriginal Medical Services, Nirrumbuk Environmental Health and Services and The Kids Research Institute Australia seek to implement and evaluate a community-led project, funded by the Department of Health, to prevent and manage RHD in a selected high-risk Aboriginal community
The END RHD Communities approach uses community-led, research-backed prevention strategies to tackle Strep A skin and throat infections, acute rheumatic fever and rheumatic heart disease
Continued progress in controlling RHD requires an understanding of how to improve delivery of regular injections of penicillin - secondary prophylaxis (SP).
Group A Streptococcus (Strep A) causes a wide spectrum of diseases, ranging from pharyngitis and impetigo to severe invasive infections and immune-mediated conditions such as acute rheumatic fever, rheumatic heart disease and acute post-streptococcal glomerulonephritis. Contemporary data on the global burden of Strep A diseases are lacking.
Head lice is an ectoparasitic skin infection commonly seen in primary school-aged children. In remote Australia, where rates of other skin infections and downstream sequelae are endemic, the rate of head lice infestation is unknown.
Asymptomatic carriage of Streptococcus pyogenes (Strep A) may contribute to transmission, yet its role remains poorly understood and evidence on optimal detection methods is limited. While self-collected throat swabs are used in infectious disease surveillance, their value for identifying asymptomatic Strep A carriage in adults is uncertain. This pilot prospective cohort study, conducted at a Perth medical research institute between August and October 2024, assessed feasibility and acceptability of self-collection, with sensitivity as a secondary objective.
Household fabrics, such as clothes, bedding, and towels, are in close contact with the skin and are assumed to play a role in the transmission of skin pathogens/ectoparasites. International public health advice for managing skin conditions therefore usually includes recommendations to wash clothes and bedding. However, such advice is often general and inconsistent between sources.
This is a 6 month cohort study involving participants at Princess Margaret Hospital prescribed BPG for secondary prophylaxis of RHD.
RHD Action is the name given to the global movement to reduce the burden of rheumatic heart disease (RHD) in vulnerable populations of all ages throughout the world.
The Kids Research Institute Australia (Jonathan Carapetis) is a member of the new Global Strep A Vaccine Consortium; a global GAS vaccine consortium that will drive strategic planning to anticipate requirements for licensure, prequalification, and policy recommendations.