Population-based studies including systematic echocardiographic examinations are
required to assess the prevalence of valvular heart disease. In industrialized countries, the …

Rheumatic heart disease, often neglected by media and policy makers, is a major burden in
developing countries where it causes most of the cardiovascular morbidity and mortality in …

Valvular heart disease remains common in industrialized countries, because the decrease
in prevalence of rheumatic heart diseases has been accompanied by an increase in that of …

Acute rheumatic fever (ARF) and rheumatic heart disease (RHD) are significant public
health concerns around the world. Despite decreasing incidence, there is still a significant …

After publication, dissemination of the message is of paramount importance. Publication of
executive summaries and the production of pocket-sized and PDA-downloadable versions …

Group A streptococcus (GAS) or Streptococcus pyogenes has been recognised as an
important human pathogen since early days of modern microbiology, and it remains among …

Background Rheumatic heart disease (RHD) poses a major disease burden among
disadvantaged populations globally. It results from acute rheumatic fever (ARF), a …

Behaviour has an important role in health disparities—for example, young men take greater
risks, causing injury and violent death, and men smoke more. 1 In industrialised countries …

Background Rheumatic heart disease accounts for up to 250 000 premature deaths every
year worldwide and can be regarded as a physical manifestation of poverty and social …

The Euro Heart Survey on valvular heart disease included 5001 patients from 92 centers in
25 European countries in 2001: 71.9% had native valve disease and 28.1% had previously …