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Pinehurst Rotary Club Hears Cardiologist
At a recent meeting of the Pinehurst Rotary Club, Dr. John Paar, a practicing cardiologist at Wake Med and a clinical professor of Echocardiology at UNC, presented an update on a joint project entered into by eight Rotary Clubs in central North Carolina.
The project, initiated by the Pinehurst Rotary four years ago, now includes Carthage, Furnitureland, Lexington, Randolph, Sandhills, Southern Pines and Thomasville clubs and works in conjunction with the Rotary Club of Leon, Nicaragua.
The purpose of the joint undertaking is to reduce the incidence of rheumatic heart disease among the children of Nicaragua. Rheumatic heart disease is most common in children between the ages of 5 and 15 and was responsible for more than 300,000 deaths in the year 2000.
Caused by a strain of streptococcus, the disease, rarely seen today in this country, strikes those children whose lives are marked by poverty, malnutrition, and poor housing conditions.
The World Health Agency reported more than 12 million cases worldwide. The disease, although easily curable through the administration of penicillin, is often not recognized and properly treated. The result may be heart valve damage and or crippling arthritis. The Rotary project called “Saving Little Hearts in Nicaragua,” in addition to providing penicillin, educates health care personnel, teachers, and parents. Because of the incidence of the disease in Nicaragua, the World Health Organization has chosen Leon to be part of a worldwide study of rheumatic heart disease. The ultimate goal of the World Health project is the production of a recombinant nasal inhaled vaccine to immunize children everywhere. |
