SYDNEY, Nov. 14 (Xinhua) -- In a first-of-its-kind trial, an Australian-led research has shown that antibiotics have the potential to significantly reduce the underlying risk of rheumatic heart disease (RHD) in children and adolescents.
A team of international researchers were involved in the study led by the Melbourne-based Murdoch Children's Research Institute (MCRI). The findings were published in the New England Journal of Medicine and released to the public on Sunday.
In randomized trials of some 818 Ugandan children aged 5-17 years, the study showed that regular treatment with the affordable antibiotic, penicillin, coupled with early screening could effectively prevent the progression of the cardiovascular disease.
In the group of children who received the treatment less than 1 percent saw progression of the disease, compared with 8.2 percent in the untreated control group.
While the treatment has proved both affordable and effective, MCRI professor and contributing author on the paper, Andrew Steer said that the first step would be widespread screening to check for the disease before it progresses and becomes untreatable.
"Children with latent rheumatic heart disease have no symptoms and we cannot detect the mild heart valve changes clinically," said Steer.
"This late diagnosis is associated with a high death rate at a young age, in part due to the missed opportunity to benefit from preventative antibiotic treatment. If patients can be identified early, there is an opportunity for intervention and improved health outcomes," said the professor.
Worldwide, RHD affects about 40.5 million people and causes upwards of 300,000 deaths each year, according to the research.
Despite it disproportionately affecting people in poorer nations, the disease also has a major prevalence among Australia's indigenous population.
According to a study released in 2021 by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) of the 5,385 people living with RHD in Australia, just over 80 percent were indigenous Australians.
Providing early screenings and subsequent treatments could reverse the trend for Australia's Aboriginal communities, which are often situated in rural areas of Australia with limited access to medical infrastructure.
"The trial is the first contemporary randomized controlled trial in rheumatic heart disease. The results are incredibly important on their own, but also demonstrate that high-quality clinical trials are feasible to address this neglected cardiovascular disease," said author on the paper, prof. Andrea Beaton from the Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center.
The team of researchers have planned furthering current findings before the implementation of population-level screenings and treatments. Enditem
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2021-11-14 08:16:55Z
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