A cute rheumatic fever (ARF) and its sequelae are now rare in wealthy industrialised nations.1 Yet, ARF and rheumatic heart disease (RHD) remain important causes of mortality and chronic ill health in poor countries and minority Indigenous populations, such as Aboriginal Australians. 2,3 In the Top End of the Northern Territory, 2.7% of Aboriginal people have an episode of ARF in their lifetime, compared with 0.014% of the non-Aboriginal population. 4 Primary prophylaxis of ARF, the provision of antibiotics to treat streptococcal pharyngitis, is largely unworkable and unsustainable in high-incidence populations, especially where health services are underresourced. 5 Besides, many cases of ARF do not follow clinically identified pharyngitis. Register-based secondary prevention programs can be effective at limiting recurrent ARF and progression to RHD, 7,8 but require early and correct diagnosis of ARF/RHD, followed by long-term administration of an antibiotic (usually benzathine penicillin) on a regular basis. The establishment of a register of patients with known past ARF and/or RHD is the central requirement of a secondary prevention program.9,10 Evaluation of service delivery is regarded as an important part of program design. 11,12A register-based RHD secondary prevention program was established in the Top End of the Northern Territory (NT) in 1997.13 New and recurrent cases of ARF are notif iable in the NT. Clinicians are encouraged to inform the register of all new cases of ARF and newly diagnosed RHD, including 'probable' cases where the diagnosis has not been proven but there is a high index of suspicion. Sources of data for the register include notifications, hospital discharge records, community clinic records, echocardiogram reports and professional correspondence. The register keeps details

Scrub typhus, caused by Orientia tsutsugamushi , occurs throughout Southeast Asia. We descript ten cases that occurred in the Torres Strait islands of northern Australia during 2000 and 2001. Preceding heavy rain may have contributed to the outbreak. The successful use of azithromycin in two pediatric patients is also reported.