Rheumatic fever resources
Te Whatu Ora Health NZ, in collaboration with relevant partners, has undertaken a full review of rheumatic fever (ARF) and rheumatic heart disease (RHD) guidelines and the Acute Rheumatic Fever Chapter of the Communicable Disease Control Manual.
Thank you for your ongoing commitment to the prevention, diagnosis and management of ARF and RHD, and for your commitment to improving health equity in Aotearoa.
Te Whatu Ora, in collaboration with relevant partners, has undertaken a full review of the following documents.
- Aotearoa New Zealand Guidelines for the Prevention, Diagnosis, and Management of Acute Rheumatic Fever and Rheumatic Heart Disease 2024.
- Acute Rheumatic Fever Chapter of the Communicable Disease Control Manual.
The updated clinical guidelines and chapter have now been published and are available for health sector use, linked below.
Rheumatic fever (ARF) and rheumatic heart disease (RHD) updated guidelines
The updated guidelines (linked below) bring together previous clinical guidelines into one comprehensive resource for health professionals, incorporating the latest evidence available, ensuring assessment and management reflects the current understanding of ARF and RHD in Aotearoa New Zealand.
This is the third edition of the Guidelines for the Prevention, Diagnosis, and Management of ARF and RHD. Previous editions in 2006, 2014 and 2019 were published by the National Heart Foundation. These new guidelines bring together previous clinical guidelines into one, comprehensive resource for health professionals.
These guidelines were commissioned by Te Whatu Ora Health NZ and produced by Te Kupenga Hauora Māori at the University of Auckland. Oversight was provided by the guidelines Steering Committee, informed by Māori and Pacific governance groups and whānau voice.
The updated guidelines align with the Rheumatic Fever Roadmap 2023 – 2028 as the guiding document for action over the next four years.
Summary guide for clinicians of key changes to the updated National Clinical Guidelines 2024
The summary guide (linked below) is intended to be a resource for clinicians. It contains key messages and changes in clinical guidance, along with tables and algorithms summarising recommendations for diagnosis and management of ARF and RHD.
Updated Acute Rheumatic Fever chapter of the Communicable Disease Control Manual (CDC)
The ARF chapter of the CDC Manual (linked below) has been updated alongside the National Clinical ARF and RHD Guidelines 2024.
This review was undertaken by a Clinical Technical Advisory Group, including key stakeholders and equity partners, and led by the Te Whatu Ora National Public Health Service. The purpose of the review is to strengthen national guidance for the public health management of ARF cases and their identified contacts.
Summary of key ARF chapter changes for Public Health Services
The summary (linked below) has been developed for Public Health Services, in particular for medical officers of health, medical officers, public health and communicable disease nurses and health protection officers, to highlight the most important key changes that have been made to the following ARF chapter sections.
- Case definition and case classification.
- Case management.
- Contact management.
- New advice on identifying ARF outbreaks/clusters.
Please note this is not an exhaustive list of changes that have been made.
Additional documents to support CDC Manual chapter content
To support national alignment of local responses, the following has been created for the use of Public Health Services and GPs:
- An information sheet (PDF) to support identified household members of ARF cases.
- A letter template (Word document) for GPs to complete and send to household members of ARF cases who are at risk of developing ARF themselves.