February 10, 2016
Better housing critical for epidemic control
A leading public health researcher says medical interventions alone aren’t enough to rid the country of rheumatic fever.
Researchers and practitioners looked at the issue today as party of a one-day seminar organised by the University of Otago Medical School in Wellington.
Professor Michael Baker says rheumatic fever rates among children were down last year by 40 percent on the epidemic’s baseline, but it’s still far too high, especially for Maori and Pasifika children.
He says while the emphasis so far has been on getting sore throats treated before they turn into the fever, people are now looking more closely at how to address factors like housing.
"At the moment or in the past we have seen a situation where children come into hospital with illness that's related to poor housing and crowding, and they're patched up in the hospital but unfortunately they are then sent back to exactly those same conditions. I think most people are realising that is not acceptable. We've got to actually change those conditions that put those children in hospital in the first place," he says.
Professor Baker says having Australian researchers at the seminar is valuable, because both countries have a problem with high levels of rheumatic fever among their indigenous populations.
PROFESSOR MICHAEL BAKER INTERVIEW
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