Association of rheumatic fever with serum albumin concentration and body iron stores in Bangladeshi children: case-control study.

Malnutrition in early life may cause metabolic and immune imbalance and consequently affect tissue reactivity of the child to group A â haemolytic streptococcal infection of the throat, leading to rheumatic fever. In developing countries protein and iron deficiencies during childhood are common and cause growth retardation, which is also found in rheumatic fever. Iron deficiency predisposes to repeated infections, which are necessary for a rheumatic attack. We examined whether rheumatic fever is associated with serum protein concentrations and body iron stores in Bangladeshi children.