There’s nothing funny about the topic, but kids are having a good laugh as they learn about ‘sassy’ at a pop-up clinic in Alice Springs.

Deadly Heart Trek visits to check for signs of acute rheumatic fever and rheumatic heart disease, which has been largely eradicated in Australia except in Aboriginal communities.

Acute rheumatic fever begins with a common streptococcal infection, sore throat, or school sores and, if diagnosed accurately and quickly, is usually relatively easy to treat with antibiotics. .

However, if acute rheumatic fever is not properly treated, it often recurs.

Fever can affect the heart, joints, brain, and skin, and each recurrence of fever increases the chance of long-term heart valve damage, known as rheumatic heart disease.

There is no single simple diagnostic test, so checking children for potential symptoms involves multiple medical professionals.

The Deadly Heart Trek brings together pediatric cardiologists, dermatologists, Aboriginal health workers, local health workers, sonographers and educators.

At the pop-up clinic, children have their skin checked and their hearts scanned with a mobile echocardiogram, a type of medical imaging that uses ultrasound.

If a child is found to have possible symptoms, we will work with local health services and place their name on the national rheumatic heart disease registry for follow-up.

For Noongar woman Vicki Wade, director of RHDAustralia and board member and head of culture at Deadly Heart, the journey is “magical”.

“We can bring the community and the school together and get the word out to the local mob. That’s what makes it different from other projects I’ve seen that aren’t as integrated,” she said. Told.

When Deadly Heart Trek plans a visit, one of the first steps is to hire a local Aboriginal guide who can facilitate conversations with the community.

In Alice Springs, Greg McAdam scouted potential test sites, made introductions, and let the Deadly Heart team know who to approach.

“These communities are very fortunate to have highly skilled, trained and culturally safe people participating in the Deadly Heart Trek. We believe that clinical and cultural are as important as each other. I think it’s magic to be seen,” Ms. Wade said.

The idea for a multidisciplinary medical team approach to rheumatic heart disease came from pediatric cardiologist Dr Beau Lemenyi, who was studying the disease at the Menzies School of Health in Darwin.

The trek started in the Top End and visited 22 remote communities in the Berkeley region, north Queensland and central Australia.

Dr Remeny believes that with enough political will, rheumatic heart disease could one day be eradicated in Australia.

“Fundamentally, there are three people who can change the trajectory of rheumatic heart disease: the prime minister, the finance minister and the health minister, and they need to work together,” she says.

“Australia is a developed country and we are battling this tragic disease.

“There’s a lot of talk, but no action and no funding.”

Georgina Byron, co-chair of the charity Snow Foundation, which coordinates and funds the Deadly Heart Trek, said she was excited about the idea when Bo and fellow pediatric cardiologist Dr Gavin Wheaton explained the concept. He said it was natural for him to support it.

“We need to invest in eliminating this disease because it is preventable,” she says.

“So what this team is doing is just a small part of being invited into the community and doing education and early diagnosis, but at the end of the day, this team wants to be disbanded and the community is I hope I don’t get sick.

“And that requires a whole other level of commitment, action and investment, and it needs to come from governments because it requires a concerted, long-term effort.”

When developing this concept, Aboriginal communities made it clear that they wanted not just health checks, but also permanent education.

When the education team enters a classroom, it is no ordinary class.

It includes laughs, games, short videos, and Q&A, but it also includes a serious message about “sassy,” the nickname the Deadly Heart team gave the streptococcus type A bacteria.

“One of the main messages we convey to children is that you only have one heart, and if you don’t take care of it, you’ll end up in big trouble as you get older.” McAdam said.

The team has developed educational resources in multiple Aboriginal languages ​​and is working with the Central Australian Indigenous Media Association in Alice Springs to provide more languages.

The Rheumatic Heart Disease Strategy was developed in 2020 and provides a blueprint to eliminate the disease by 2031.

Prevention includes improving social determinants of health, such as adequate water, infrastructure, and adequate housing, which are inadequate in many indigenous communities.

“The biggest part of our challenge is in our tropical climate. As temperatures rise, it becomes even more important to focus seriously on skin hygiene,” Dr. Bo said.

“The main factors that affect our situation are being in a hot, sweaty environment and not having access to things like washing machines and clean water.

“And in a tropical region like the Top End, washing your sheets is easier said than done, but it’s actually very difficult to do, because even if you hang them out, they never dry.”

The Snow Foundation also supports Orange Sky, a nonprofit organization that provides free laundry services in some remote communities.

“Orange Sky is great, but wouldn’t it be great if every household had a working washing machine and if it broke down, local workers were empowered to fix it?” Byron said.

Health worker Roy Farmer made the trek to Alice Springs from his home in the Tiwi Islands.

Mr Farmer is a qualified allied health professional and has practical experience in echocardiography, which is required, but he also has first-hand experience with the disease.

Farmer started experiencing pain in her joints when she was in elementary school.

Tests in Darwin diagnosed him with rheumatic heart disease, and he has been receiving painful penicillin injections every month for more than 20 years, with treatment scheduled to end next year when he turns 35.

When children visit Tiwi’s clinic, he explains about rheumatic heart disease, how it is diagnosed through scans, and how it is treated.

For Farmer, it’s important to work toward qualifications once you become a regular patient at the clinic.

He has been away from home for weeks, missing family events such as his daughter’s seventh birthday.

But Mr Farmer wants to eliminate rheumatic heart disease and knows scans are key.

“Hopefully, one day someone, especially my children, will be able to look up and say, ‘I’m trying to do good for the community and the whole island,'” he said. said.

Farmer’s message, like those of Dr. Lemeny, Mr. Byron, Mr. Wade, Mr. McAdam and other Trek members, is that this approach works, but with the right resources, more could be done.

That way, children can grow up without the threat of heart disease.

“More funding…to try to get more teams to reach every community in the Top End and across Australia,” he suggested.

AAP journalists visited Alice Springs with support from the Snow Foundation