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Rheumatic Heart Disease: A Major Killer of Children

Remember the time you had strep throat as a kid? How much your throat hurt, how you had to go to the doctor and take medicine for over a week and stay home from school until you were better? That was no fun, to be sure, but if that's what happened to you when you caught strep throat as a child, you can consider yourself very fortunate. In the United States, strep throat is treated, and that's the end of the story.

 

For many children around the world, catching strep throat is the beginning of a deadly progression to rheumatic fever (RF) and ultimately rheumatic heart disease (RHD). Left untreated, strep throat can cause RHD: a severely damaging, often fatal illness for which there is no cure.

 

RHD is a major killer of children in developing countries. In fact, 15.6 million people globally suffer from rheumatic heart disease, with 233,000 deaths occurring each year because of RF or RHD. Rheumatic heart disease is especially devastating to children and young adults in their most productive years. Read more >

 

 

WiRED Announces Honorary Board Membership

WiRED International's Honorary Board is an interdisciplinary group of extraordinary individuals who are committed to our mission of sharing critical medical information with impoverished communities worldwide.

 

WiRED International is indebted to these distinguished leaders for their ongoing commitment to our organization and for championing the cause of health and well-being for the neediest people worldwide. Read more >