Bringing Rheumatic Heart Disease Relief To The Children of Samoa

Guest: Richard Gill, PhD, Associate Professor of Biology, Brigham Young University; Associate Director, Rheumatic Relief Strep throat is an unpleasant but minor illness in developed countries like the U.S.: a quick trip to the doctor for an antibiotic and you’re quickly on the mend. But in places where kids don’t have that kind of treatment as readily, a strep infection can progress to rheumatic fever – and from there to permanent heart damage. This especially common in Samoa, and for nearly a decade now, the Rheumatic Relief program has been working to tackle the problem.