What is Acute Rheumatic Fever (ARF)?
Acute Rheumatic Fever (ARF) is a sickness that happens when your body’s immune system starts attacking healthy parts of your body after fighting a bacterial infection.
If it’s not treated, ARF can cause long-term damage to your heart (this is called Rheumatic Heart Disease, or RHD), which makes it harder for your heart to work properly.
What causes Acute Rheumatic Fever?
ARF is caused by a bacterial infection called Group A Streptococcus. You might have this infection in your throat (like tonsillitis) or on your skin (a skin sore).
After your body fights the infection, sometimes the immune system can get confused and attack healthy areas like your heart, joints, or brain.
How did I get Acute Rheumatic Fever?
The bacteria that causes ARF spreads from person to person when someone with the infection talks, coughs, or sneezes near you.
You can also get it by touching infected sores on someone’s skin. But not all infections with this bacteria will turn into ARF.
Living in overcrowded homes can make it easier for the bacteria to spread between people, which increases the risk of getting ARF.