New Delhi: India is found to be in five nations’ list namely Indonesia, the DR Congo, China and Pakistan that accounted for 73% of rheumatic heart disease deaths globally in 2015, a study has shown.
India saw 1,19,100 death, while the other four nations stood at 1.18 million in Indonesia, 8,05,000 in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, 72,600 in China and 18,900 in Pakistan, reports NDTV.
the heart disease is a condition of damaged heart valves caused by bacterial infection that leads to rheumatic fever.
“The persistence of rheumatic fever and rheumatic heart disease reflects the challenges many countries face in improving the social, environmental, and economic conditions that lead to the disease,” said Gregory A. Roth, Assistant Professor at the University of Washington.
Furthermore, the study shows that mortality has not appreciably declined in these regions, which include some of the world’s poorest countries, since 1990, although the risk of death from the disease has dropped around the world over the last 25 years.
In addition, about 1% of school age children in these endemic countries have evidence of rheumatic heart disease.
“We have very cost-effective interventions that treat strep throat and prevent rheumatic fever and rheumatic heart disease from getting worse, but these children often don’t have access to the care they need,” said David Watkins, from the University of Washington School of Medicine.
“As a result, their heart conditions usually get worse with age and lead to premature death. Many of these individuals could be saved by open-heart surgery to repair or replace damaged valves, but unfortunately in these countries access to advanced cardiac surgery care is very low,” Watkins added.
Stronger national surveillance systems may help in prevention and early treatment in countries where rheumatic heart disease is endemic, the researchers said.
Here are a few symptoms of the rheumatic fever:
1. a sore throat
2. a sore throat with tender and swollen lymph nodes
3. red rash difficulty swallowing thick
4. bloody discharge from nausea temperature of 101 or above
5. tonsils that are red and swollen tonsils with white patches
6. red spots on the roof of their mouth
7. headache
8. nausea
9. vomiting