Deadly Heart Trek

The Deadly Heart Trek will be visiting St Philip's College on Monday, 4th March. Led by pediatric cardiologists Dr Gavin Wheaton and Dr Bo Remenyi, both well-known in many communities, the Deadly Heart Trek is coming to Central Australia with their specialist medical team to provide our students with:

• Education about preventing and understanding Rheumatic Heart Disease (RHD).
• Screening children to detect whether they have a healthy heart, using echocardiogram scans to examine the heart on a screen.
• Skin screenings by doctors.
• Treatment facilitated with the local health clinic, in communication with the parent/carer as required.

Rheumatic fever, caused by a germ called Group A Streptococcus (Strep), can often result in sore throats and skin sores. If untreated, it can lead to rheumatic fever, where the body's defense system attacks joints, heart, brain, and skin. Rheumatic fever can cause damage to the heart valves, leading to rheumatic heart disease (RHD). Children will be offered a painless echocardiogram (echo) to check for RHD, along with skin infection checks.

RHD disproportionately impacts Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children, and they are the priority to be screened, however Pacific Islander children, Sub Saharan African and South Asian communities are the other key priority groups.

For further information on the Deadly Heart Trek, please visit this link.

Parents and guardians of students wishing to participate in the Rheumatic Heart Disease Screening are kindly asked to complete the attached Consent form and return it to the college or email it to nurse@stphilips.nt.edu.au at their earliest convenience.