Rheumatic fever facts for kids

Rheumatic fever is a serious illness that can happen to children and young adults. It's caused by a type of germ called strep bacteria. This illness can make different parts of your body swell up and get sick, especially your heart, skin, joints, and brain and nerves. It usually affects kids between 5 and 15 years old.

What is Rheumatic Fever?

Rheumatic fever is an inflammatory disease. This means it causes parts of your body to become swollen and painful. It happens when your body tries to fight off a specific type of bacteria called group A streptococci, often known as "strep." If a strep throat infection isn't treated properly, your body's immune system can sometimes get confused. Instead of just attacking the strep germs, it might start attacking healthy parts of your own body.

How Do You Get Rheumatic Fever?

You get rheumatic fever after having an infection caused by group A strep bacteria. The most common strep infection is strep throat. If strep throat is not treated with antibiotics, a small number of people might develop rheumatic fever. It's important to treat strep throat quickly to prevent this.

What Parts of the Body Does It Affect?

Rheumatic fever can affect several parts of your body.

• Heart: It can cause problems with your heart valves, which help blood flow in the right direction. This is called rheumatic heart disease and can be serious.
• Joints: Your joints, like your knees, ankles, elbows, and wrists, can become swollen, red, and very painful. The pain often moves from one joint to another.
• Skin: Some people might get a rash, or small, painless bumps under their skin.
• Brain and Nerves: In some cases, it can affect the central nervous system. This might cause uncontrolled movements, especially in the hands and feet, or changes in behavior. This is known as Sydenham's chorea.

Where Does Rheumatic Fever Happen Most?

Rheumatic fever is more common in some parts of the world where access to healthcare and antibiotics might be limited. This includes areas in the Middle East, eastern Europe, South America, and the Far East. It is much rarer in western Europe and North America because strep infections are usually treated quickly there.

How Is It Treated?

If someone has rheumatic fever, doctors will usually recommend:

• Rest: Getting lots of rest is very important, especially if the heart is affected.
• Antibiotics: Even if the strep infection is gone, doctors will give antibiotics to make sure all the strep bacteria are cleared from the body. They might also give long-term antibiotics to prevent future strep infections, which could lead to more attacks of rheumatic fever.
• Other Medicines: Medicines can be given to help with pain and swelling in the joints, and to reduce inflammation in the body.

Famous composer Wolfgang Mozart is believed to have died from rheumatic fever.

Images for kids

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  Pathophysiology of rheumatic heart disease

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  Micrograph showing an Aschoff body (right of image), as seen in rheumatic heart disease. H&E stain.

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  Streptococcus pyogenes bacteria (Pappenheim's stain), the trigger for rheumatic fever

See also

In Spanish: Fiebre reumática para niños