Having Rheumatic Fever I was eleven years old when my oldest sister, Willie, was admitted into the hospital for heart problems. At that age, I didn’t understand what was going on with her, but I knew she was very sick. By the time I reached my fifth-teen birthday, my sister was back in the hospital again. It was then that I understood what was happening to my sister. As a baby, my sister was …showed first 75 words of 831 total…

…showed last 75 words of 831 total…two days later. She died before she could receive a new heart. Rheumatic heart disease is a condition in which the heart valves are damaged by rheumatic fever (American Heart Association). Rheumatic fever begins with a strep throat from streptococcal infection (American Heart Association). Rheumatic fever and rheumatic heart disease killed 3,676 Americans in 1999 (Microsoft Encarta). It is obviously important to treat strep throat as soon as possible to prevent rheumatic fever and rheumatic heart disease.