Please see below important communications regarding the formal release of the Aotearoa New Zealand Guidelines for the Prevention, Diagnosis, and Management of Acute Rheumatic Fever and Rheumatic Heart Disease 2024 alongside the revised acute rheumatic fever (ARF) chapter in the Communicable Disease Control Manual.
The updated guidelines reflect the latest evidence, clinical consensus, and learnings from the lived experience of wh?nau affected by ARF and rheumatic heart disease (RHD). They provide clear diagnostic criteria, practical clinical pathways, and reinforce the importance of delivering culturally safe and equitable care.
On behalf of the Health NZ Population Health team, we ask that you circulate this to your workforce.
You can view the updated guidelines and CDC Manual ARF chapter here: Updated guidelines
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This update notifies you that Health NZ | Te Whatu Ora, in collaboration with relevant partners, has undertaken a full review of the following:
- Aotearoa New Zealand Guidelines for the Prevention, Diagnosis, and Management of Acute Rheumatic Fever and Rheumatic Heart Disease 2024.
- Acute Rheumatic Fever Chapter of the Communicable Disease Control Manual.
The updated clinical guidelines and chapter have now been published and are available for health sector use with links below.
Included in this update:
- Access to the updated National Clinical Guidelines for Acute Rheumatic Fever and Rheumatic Heart Disease 2024.
- A summary guide for clinicians of key changes to the updated National Clinical Guidelines 2024.
- Access to the updated Acute Rheumatic Fever chapter of the Communicable Disease Control Manual.
- A high-level summary of the most important changes made to the chapter.
- Additional documents to support the Acute Rheumatic Fever Communicable Disease Control Manual chapter guidance.
- A request for all recipients to please cascade this update to the key stakeholders named below.
Updated National Clinical Guidelines for Acute Rheumatic Fever (ARF) and Rheumatic Heart Disease (RHD)
The updated guidelines below bring together previous clinical guidelines into one comprehensive resource for health professionals, incorporating the latest evidence available, ensuring assessment and management reflects the current understanding of ARF and RHD in Aotearoa New Zealand.
This is the 3rd edition of the Guidelines for the Prevention, Diagnosis, and Management of ARF and RHD. Previous editions in 2006, 2014 and 2019 were published by the National Heart Foundation. These new guidelines bring together previous clinical guidelines into one, comprehensive resource for health professionals.
These guidelines were commissioned by Health NZ | Te Whatu Ora and produced by Te Kupenga Hauora M?ori at the University of Auckland. Oversight was provided by the guidelines Steering Committee, informed by M?ori and Pacific governance groups and wh?nau voice.
The updated guidelines align with the Rheumatic Fever Roadmap 2023 ? 2028 as our guiding document for action over the next four years.
Updated National Clinical Guidelines for Acute Rheumatic Fever and Rheumatic Heart Disease
Summary guide for clinicians of key changes to the updated National Clinical Guidelines 2024
The summary guide below is intended to be a resource for clinicians. It contains key messages and changes in clinical guidance, along with tables and algorithms summarising recommendations for diagnosis and management of ARF and RHD.
Updated Acute Rheumatic Fever chapter of the Communicable Disease Control Manual (CDC)
The ARF chapter of the CDC Manual has been updated alongside the National Clinical ARF and RHD Guidelines 2024.
See below for a link to the ARF CDC Manual chapter.
This review was undertaken by a Clinical Technical Advisory Group, including key stakeholders and equity partners, and led by the Health NZ National Public Health Service. The purpose of the review is to strengthen national guidance for the public health management of ARF cases and their identified contacts.
Updated ARF CDC Manual chapter
Summary of key ARF chapter changes for Public Health Services
The below summary has been developed for Public Health Services, in particular for medical officers of health, medical officers, public health and communicable disease nurses and health protection officers, to highlight the most important key changes that have been made to the following ARF chapter sections:
- Case definition and case classification
- Case management
- Contact management
- New advice on identifying ARF outbreaks/clusters
Please note this is not an exhaustive list of changes that have been made.
Key ARF chapter changes for Public Health Services
Additional documents to support CDC Manual chapter content
To support national alignment of local responses, the following has been created for the use of Public Health Services and GPs:
- An information sheet to support identified household members of ARF cases.
- A letter template for GPs to complete and send to household members of ARF cases who are at risk of developing ARF themselves.
For those who cannot access the links but would like visibility of these documents, you can access them below.
Contact for feedback and questions
If you have any feedback or questions on the updated guidelines, please email: rheumaticfever@tewhatuora.govt.nz.
If you have feedback or questions on the CDC Manual chapter, please email CD.Team.Protection@TeWhatuOra.govt.nz.