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Rheumatic Fever, Strep Diagnosis
April 1, 2009 |
Right now, doctors around the world are discussing new ways to prevent rheumatic
fever.
“Rheumatic fever was more prevalent years ago and its seen a little bit of an uprise
recently. Its basically an infection by the streptococcal bacteria that may harbor
in the heart valves,” says Dr. Jose Bustillo, a rheumatologist for Lee Memorial Health
System.
That untreated strep throat then develops into rheumatic fever. “It can cause certain
syndromes which may include of course, fevers, join pain, some certain neurological
manifestations and skin manifestations,”
adds Dr. Bustillo.
Currently, doctors diagnose strep throat using rapid stress test, but new reports
just released suggest maybe using the old-fashioned throat culture method could
be useful as well. Dr. Bustillo says its always better to be safe than sorry. “If
you have a high probability or you have a high suspicion of any disease that any
test may not give you the answer, you want to be able to use other choices
too. But in general, if you’re very suspicious, it doesn’t hurt to treat it anyway,”
explains
Dr. Bustillo.
Parents need to pay special attention to sore throats, especially in young children.
“If diagnosed early, and we do a lot of screenings in today’s age, as long
as its treated correctly, with the appropriate antibiotic, it should not occur,
“ says Dr. Bustillo.
If your child has a severe throat for more than a few days without any cold or flu
symptoms, its suggested you contact your doctor. |
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