Rheumatic fever and rheumatic heart disease in children below the age of 5 years in the tropics.

Rheumatic fever and particularly rheumatic heart disease have always been regarded as rare conditions below the age of 5 years and as very rare below 3 years (Holt and McIntosh, 1953). Reported cases are few and no account of the clinical pattern of the disease in the small child has been found in the literature. In the Rheumatic and Heart Clinic, in Cairo University Hospital, we have had the opportunity of examining large numbers of children referred with rheumatic fever and rheumatic heart disease in the last 4 years. It was thus possible to collect a fairly large group of younger children with the disease and we were able to examine the incidence as well as the special features of rheumatic fever and rheumatic heart disease in this age group.