Acute rheumatic fever and rheumatic heart disease in Fiji: prospective surveillance, 2005–2008
Abstract:
The
following review is an attempt to critically analyses the article ‘Acute
rheumatic fever and rheumatic heart disease in Fiji: prospective surveillance,
2005–2007’ first published in the Medical Journal of Australia in 2009. The
article is by local Fijian authors and highly relevant as acute rheumatic fever
(ARF) and rheumatic heart disease (RHD) contribute highly to the burden of
disease in Fiji. The mentioned diseases also contribute greatly to admission
numbers and mortality in third world countries like Fiji and are always
regarded as areas of special interest as these diseases are virtually extinct
in developed countries with NZ and Australia being exceptions. A thorough summary
of the article will be provided and this will be followed by analysis of the
article’s structure with critique of how the information is set out and whether
the findings are efficiently imparted to the interested reader. The review also
sets to critique the content mainly with regards to accuracy, objectivity,
general coverage and evaluation of its authority. It also explores the author
credibility and their insights into the need for such a research. Overall, the
topic was a well-chosen one and the article itself is well written, concise and
extremely relevant.
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