Hyperendemic rheumatic heart disease in a remote Australian town identified by echocardiographic screening.

OBJECTIVES: Using echocardiographic screening, to estimate the prevalence of rheumatic heart disease (RHD) in a remote Northern Territory town. DESIGN: Prospective, cross-sectional echocardiographic screening study; results compared with data from the NT rheumatic heart disease register. SETTING, PARTICIPANTS: People aged 5-20 years living in Maningrida, West Arnhem Land (population, 2610, including 2366 Indigenous Australians), March 2018 and November 2018. INTERVENTION: Echocardiographic screening for RHD by an expert cardiologist or cardiac sonographer. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Definite or borderline RHD, based on World Heart Federation criteria; history of acute rheumatic fever (ARF), based on Australian guidelines for diagnosing ARF. RESULTS: The screening participation rate was 72%. The median age of the 613 participants was 11 years (interquartile range, 8-14 years); 298 (49%) were girls or women, and 592 (97%) were Aboriginal Australians. Definite RHD was detected in 32 screened participants (5.2%), including 20 not previously diagnosed with RHD; in five new cases, RHD was classified as severe, and three of the participants involved required cardiac surgery. Borderline RHD was diagnosed in 17 participants (2.8%). According to NT RHD register data at the end of the study period, 88 of 849 people in Maningrida and the surrounding homelands aged 5-20 years (10%) were receiving secondary prophylaxis following diagnoses of definite RHD or definite or probable ARF. CONCLUSION: Passive case finding for ARF and RHD is inadequate in some remote Australian communities with a very high burden of RHD, placing children and young people with undetected RHD at great risk of poor health outcomes. Active case finding by regular echocardiographic screening is required in such areas.

An outbreak of Salmonella Muenchen after consuming sea turtle, Northern Territory, Australia, 2017.

An outbreak of Salmonella Muenchen gastroenteritis occurred in a remote coastal Aboriginal community in the Northern Territory (NT) of Australia. There were 22 people sick (attack rate 55%); 7 had laboratory confirmed S. Muenchen infection; 2 required medical evacuation and admission to the intensive care unit (ICU). We conducted a descriptive case series to investigate the outbreak. All cases ate meat from a single green turtle (Chelonia mydas). The animal's pre-death stress, improper butchering, insufficient cooking and the unsatisfactory storage of meat all likely contributed to the outbreak. Turtle meat should be prepared safely, cooked thoroughly and stored appropriately to avoid Salmonella infection.

Single-View Echocardiography by Nonexpert Practitioners to Detect Rheumatic Heart Disease: A Prospective Study of Diagnostic Accuracy.

BACKGROUND: Echocardiographic screening can detect asymptomatic cases of rheumatic heart disease (RHD), facilitating access to treatment. Barriers to implementation of echocardiographic screening include the requirement for expensive equipment and expert practitioners. We aimed to evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of an abbreviated echocardiographic screening protocol (single parasternal-long-axis view with a sweep of the heart) performed by briefly trained, nonexpert practitioners using handheld ultrasound devices. METHODS: Participants aged 5 to 20 years in Timor-Leste and the Northern Territory of Australia had 2 echocardiograms: one performed by an expert echocardiographer using a GE Vivid I or Vivid Q portable ultrasound device (reference test), and one performed by a nonexpert practitioner using a GE Vscan handheld ultrasound device (index test). The accuracy of the index test, compared with the reference test, for identifying cases with definite or borderline RHD was determined. RESULTS: There were 3111 enrolled participants; 2573 had both an index test and reference test. Median age was 12 years (interquartile range, 10-15); 58.2% were female. Proportion with definite or borderline RHD was 5.52% (95% CI, 4.70-6.47); proportion with definite RHD was 3.23% (95% CI, 2.61-3.98). Compared with the reference test, sensitivity of the index test for definite or borderline RHD was 70.4% (95% CI, 62.2-77.8), specificity was 78.1% (95% CI, 76.4-79.8). CONCLUSIONS: Nonexpert practitioners can be trained to perform single parasternal-long-axis view with a sweep of the heart echocardiography. However, the specificity and sensitivity are inadequate for echocardiographic screening. Improved training for nonexpert practitioners should be investigated.