Symptoms

Rheumatic fever symptoms vary. You can have few symptoms or several, and symptoms can change during the course of the disease. The onset of rheumatic fever usually occurs about two to four weeks after a strep throat infection.

Rheumatic fever signs and symptoms — which result from inflammation in the heart, joints, skin or central nervous system — can include:

• Fever
• Painful and tender joints — most often in the knees, ankles, elbows and wrists
• Pain in one joint that migrates to another joint
• Red, hot or swollen joints
• Small, painless bumps beneath the skin
• Chest pain
• Heart murmur
• Fatigue
• Flat or slightly raised, painless rash with a ragged edge
• Jerky, uncontrollable body movements (Sydenham chorea) — most often in the hands, feet and face
• Outbursts of unusual behavior, such as crying or inappropriate laughing, that accompanies Sydenham chorea

When to see a doctor

Have your child see a doctor for signs or symptoms of strep throat, which include:

• Sore throat that comes on suddenly
• Pain when swallowing
• Fever
• Headache
• Stomach pain, nausea and vomiting

Proper treatment of strep throat can prevent rheumatic fever. Also, have your child see a doctor if he or she shows other indications of rheumatic fever.