RHD affects 1 in 50 children in Fiji

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Rigieta Takayawa, Sofia Talei, Vidhya Singh , Sofia Talei and Sonia Singh were part of the World Oral Health Day workshop for Faith Based Women Leaders at the Holiday Inn. Picture; JONA KONATACI

Rheumatic heart disease (RHD) affects one in every 50 children in Fiji, with 4958 active cases in the country, according to Dr Hinal Tailor.

Speaking at a World Oral Health Day workshop in Suva yesterday, the pediatric registrar at the Colonial War Memorial Hospital highlighted that RHD is one of the leading causes of death in young people and the second most common cause of death in pregnant women.

Dr Tailor emphasised that last year, the rate of infected patients taking benzathine injections — an antibiotic used to treat bacterial infections like mild to moderate infections and used to prevent rheumatic fever — was low.

“It was 34 per cent when our target was 80 per cent, meaning that a lot of individuals who were supposed to be taking the injections were not taking them, which was not good,” she explained.

She added those who did not take the injection were at risk of having another episode of rheumatic fever, and any infection caused further risk of heart damage and heart failure.

“We have had deaths recently from RHD, and a lot of them were young children,” she said, revealing that the youngest patient being reviewed for RHD was only three years old.

Dr Tailor further explained that benzathine injections are crucial as they prevent patients from getting severe sickness, and it’s important for children not to miss any of the injections to prevent rheumatic heart fever and damage to their heart walls.

“If it’s a severe rheumatic heart disease, children will get injections every three weeks, and if it’s mild to moderate, it’s every four weeks,” she added.

Despite the challenges faced by parents due to the painful nature of the injections, Dr Tailor urged them not to skip appointments, as the younger the child, the more severe the disease they tend to develop.

“It shortens the lifespan of the child as well,” she said.

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