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Letters to the editor
Rheumatic heart disease in school children in Samoa
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Editor,—Rheumatic heart disease (RHD) is a major cause of morbidity and mortality in developing countries,1and its true importance may be much greater than is generally recognised. We conducted a prevalence survey of RHD in 8767 school children aged between 5 and 17 years in Samoa; the analysis was weighted to adjust for stratification by urban and rural populations and school level clustering. The prevalence of RHD in our survey was 77.8 per 1000 (95% confidence intervals (CI) 64.0 to 91.6).
The diagnosis of RHD was made on clinical rather than echocardiographic findings by a paediatrician with extensive experience …