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Letters to the editor
Rheumatic heart disease in school children in Samoa
  1. ANDREW C STEER,
  2. JOHN ADAMS,
  3. JOHN CARLIN,
  4. TERRY NOLAN,
  5. FRANK SHANN
  1. Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics Unit
  2. University of Melbourne Department of Paediatrics
  3. Royal Children’s Hospital
  4. Parkville, Victoria 3052, Australia

    https://doi.org/10.1136/adc.81.4.372d

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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 …

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