This in-brief report provides an overview of the data in the main report, also titled ‘Acute rheumatic fever and rheumatic heart disease in Australia’.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities have some of the highest rates of rheumatic heart disease (RHD) in the world. This report outlines the trajectory of acute rheumatic fever (ARF) and RHD in Australia until 2031, assuming only the current levels of funding and attention to these diseases.

Background: Rheumatic fever (RF) and its sequela rheumatic heart disease (RHD) occur at unusually high levels in New Zealand. A disease of social deprivation, RF now almost exclusively affects Māori and Pacific peoples. In 2011, the Government announced a goal to reduce the incidence of RF by two-thirds to 1.4 per 100,000 and make RF...

This bulletin describes the population patterns of acute rheumatic fever and rheumatic heart disease in Australia today using data obtained from regional registers and national databases.