Andrea Beaton, Emmy Okello, Joselyn Rwebembera, Anneke Grobler, Daniel Engelman, Juliet Alepere, Lesley Canales, Jonathan Carapetis, Alyssa DeWyer, Peter Lwabi, Mariana Mirabel, Ana O Mocumbi, Meghna Murali, Miriam Nakitto, Emma Ndagire, Maria C P Nunes, Isaac O Omara, Rachel Sarnacki, Amy Scheel, Nigel Wilson, Meghan Zimmerman, Liesl Zühlke, Ganesan Karthikeyan, Craig A Sable, Andrew C Steer
BACKGROUND: Rheumatic heart disease affects more than 40.5 million people worldwide and results in 306,000 deaths annually. Echocardiographic screening detects rheumatic heart disease at an early, latent stage. Whether secondary antibiotic prophylaxis is effective in preventing progression of latent rheumatic heart disease is unknown. METHODS: We conducted a randomized, controlled trial of secondary antibiotic prophylaxis in Ugandan children and adolescents 5 to 17 years of age with latent rheumatic heart disease...
January 20, 2022: New England Journal of Medicine