New research program to help thousands of children in Timor Leste
St John of God Health Care (SJGHC) has partnered with health care organisations in Timor Leste to deliver the nation’s first research program into the prevalence of rheumatic heart disease (RHD) in children.
15 Dec 2016
15 December 2016
Over a five day period SJGHC caregivers in Timor Leste, along with representatives from partner organisations, screened 1400 children across two districts for RHD.
Rheumatic heart disease is damage to one or more heart valves that occurs after an episode or recurrent episodes of acute rheumatic fever, where the heart has become inflamed. It is a chronic, disabling and sometimes fatal disease but is 100 per cent preventable.
St John of God Social Outreach Specialist Emergency Nurse, Andrew Metcalfe said the coming together of health agencies in Timor Leste had enabled them to screen almost double the amount of children they had aimed to achieve.
“Our shared goal was to screen a minimum of 750 school aged children, but over five days we managed to see 1400 children,” said Andrew.
“The echocardiograph team picked up several children with confirmed RHD and many others with borderline heart disease.
“It was incredibly exhausting but very satisfying work.”
As part of the study all children were checked for scabies and impetigo, as these are symptoms of Group A streptococcus infection, a primary risk factor for RHD. The majority of participants had some evidence of infection and were referred to a local child health clinic for topical treatment.
St John of God Social Outreach Nursing Program Manager, Ben Dingle said the stand-alone study was a success and a step in the right direction in terms of capturing data to influence future policy.
“This research program is the first population screening of its kind for RDH in Timor Leste and could have significant impact in terms of providing data for large scale policy decisions in the future.”