World Heart Day: ‘Sore throat, fever can indicate rheumatism’

Repeated episodes might be indicative of rheumatic fever, which if undiagnosed, untreated, could lead to heart damage.

FAISALABAD:

Commissioner Syed Tahir Hussain on Saturday urged parents and teachers to be vigilant if children, between five and 15, had chronic sore throat and fever.

He warned that repeated episodes might be indicative of rheumatic fever, which if undiagnosed and untreated, could lead to heart damage.

Hussain expressed the views while talking to reporters during his visit to the Faisalabad Institute of Cardiology (FIC) on the occasion of World Heart Day. The commissioner said cardiologists should be consulted if heart valves were found to be inflamed.

He said that timely diagnosis of rheumatic fever could help avoid expensive surgeries to replace mitral and aortic valves, which cost hundreds of thousands of rupees.

Hussain praised the FIC for its Continued Medical Education Programme, aimed at raising awareness regarding rheumatic fever and prevention of rheumatic heart diseases.

The commissioner also inquired after the health of patients admitted to the institute. FIC Medical Superintendent Dr Mian Zahid Maalik told the commissioner that more than 1,500 open heart surgeries had been performed at the FIC in the last four years. He said that there had been 13,430 angiographies and 2,560 angioplasties.

Several pharmaceutical companies had set up stalls at the FIC. A few of them offered a free-of-charge cholesterol test.

Regional Police Officer Aftab Ahmad Cheema and District Police Officer Bilal Siddique Kamyana accompanied the commissioner.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 30^th, 2012.