Rheumatic fever - #29308
I am worried because my 12-year-old son got sick about a month ago with what the doctor said was a pretty bad strep throat. We thought it was just that, but he started developing weird symptoms like a lot of joint pain in his knees and elbows, and then a rash appeared on his torso. I just was looking for some answers because I heard of something called rheumatic fever, which I think could be related? Now I'm confused. The pediatrician mentioned it might be rheumatic fever if his symptoms are from that infection but didn’t go into detail. Is rheumatic fever common after strep throat? Like, what should I look for? And why would it lead to joint pain like this? I mean, he was perfectly fine before this and now it’s just not letting up. They did some blood tests, and I saw the word "ASO titer" on the results, but I have no idea what that means. I feel like I'm in the dark here! How serious is rheumatic fever anyway? Can it lead to heart problems? I guess I'm just really anxious about all of this and I wanna make sure he gets the right treatment and doesn’t face any long-term effects. What can I do or ask the doctor next time?
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