[Rheumatic fever among children in the Negev]

Between 1977-1989, 143 children with acute rheumatic fever were hospitalized here. In contrast to western countries, there has been no decline in the absolute number of hospitalizations for this disease here. A high prevalence of rheumatic fever was found among Bedouins and non-Ashkenazi Jews (2.5 and 1.5 times greater than the expected incidence, respectively). The affected children were usually from large families and lived in crowded conditions. Recurrences of rheumatic fever were more frequent among girls, and they were affected at an older age. The manifestations, in order of frequency, were arthritis, carditis and chorea. Chorea was found only among girls.