Hi rms i read your post. Someone getting rheumatic heart disease or fever is pretty rare in this day and age because of how pro active modern medicine is w. so many different antibiotics that are out there. But.....the disease usually comes along a couple of weeks after someone has popped up with a stubborn strep infection like strep throat or scarlet fever (which is almost unheard of these days w. the scarlet fever). The parts of your body that can be effect is your heart, brain, joints of your body mimicking rheumatoid arthritis and believe it or not your skin. It is considered to be an inflamatory disease in other words causing any of these parts of your body or a portion of them to swell up. If the docs catch it early and treat it quickly there is usually no residue at the end however alot of ugly things can pop up if it allowed to rage thru your body...hope i answered your question okay.......