Sore throats can break a heart

Sore throats can break a heart

Public Health Association media release

Tuesday 17 September 2013

Northland has one of the highest rates of rheumatic fever in the world, and current swabbing projects in schools aren't enough to identify and treat the disease, the Public Health Association Conference was told today in New Plymouth.

Rheumatic fever, which often starts with a sore throat, can lead to damaged heart valves, and even heart failure, which means the heart is unable to provide sufficient ‘pump action’ to maintain blood flow to meet the needs of the body.

Te Hau Ora O Kaikohe health worker Waiora Wihongi has been involved in school swabbing projects for a number of years, but she says many children are slipping under the radar.

“We visit eight schools in and around the Kaikohe region three times each week to identify cases of ‘strep A’ among the students. Generally, only students who complain of having a sore throat are swabbed.

“However, in 2012 we undertook our first mass swabbing and repeated this again in 2013, where consenting students in the region were checked, and we discovered that a number throughout all schools had strep A, one of the precursors to rheumatic fever.

Waiora said it was interesting to see how many children tested positive for strep A, who hadn't complained of having a sore throat during the weekly checks. She found younger children were quite scared of being swabbed which is common if they have never had a throat swab before.

“These kids come from a low socioeconomic area, and many lack an understanding of basic health concepts, so we've had to take some unusual approaches to communicating health messages to them.

“We have a few resources we use to aid us and keep the children attentive. One is a giant mouth and a giant swab, which shows exactly what we’re doing and helps them see why we need to put something in their mouths. The frightened kids tend to be a bit calmer once they understand what we’re doing and why.”

The mass swabbing project means Te Hau Ora O Kaikohe will soon have the data it needs to effectively measure what is going on in their community in regards to Strep A and Rheumatic Fever as they work toward reducing rheumatic fever in Kaikohe.

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