What is the effect of penicillin on patients with rheumatic fever?

Under normal circumstances, penicillin exerts several key effects in patients with rheumatic fever, including eliminating streptococcal infection, preventing recurrence of rheumatic fever, reducing inflammatory responses, protecting cardiac function, and shortening the disease course. However, medication use must follow medical advice. Detailed explanations are as follows:

1. Eliminating streptococcal infection: Rheumatic fever is often triggered by infection with group A beta-hemolytic streptococcus. Penicillin effectively eradicates this pathogen, clears the infection foci in the body, and prevents continuous immune reactions caused by streptococcus, thereby reducing the factors that promote disease progression at its source.

2. Preventing recurrence of rheumatic fever: Rheumatic fever has a tendency to recur, especially when infection is not completely controlled. Penicillin can inhibit reinfection by streptococcus, thereby reducing the risk of disease recurrence and minimizing repeated damage to organs such as the heart and joints.

3. Reducing inflammatory response: Following streptococcal infection, the body's immune response leads to inflammation. After eliminating the pathogen, penicillin indirectly reduces the inflammatory response caused by the infection, thus alleviating acute symptoms such as joint redness, swelling, and pain.

4. Protecting cardiac function: The most serious complication of rheumatic fever is cardiac involvement, which can lead to rheumatic heart disease. By effectively controlling the infection, penicillin reduces inflammatory damage to areas such as the heart valves, protects normal cardiac function, and lowers the likelihood of long-term cardiovascular complications.

5. Shortening the disease course: The administration of penicillin during the acute phase of rheumatic fever accelerates the control of infection, promotes faster resolution of inflammatory symptoms, shortens the overall disease course, and helps patients recover their health more quickly.

A skin test should be conducted before drug administration to confirm the absence of allergic reactions; penicillin is contraindicated in allergic individuals. Close monitoring of physical reactions is necessary during treatment; if symptoms such as rash or difficulty breathing occur, the medication should be discontinued immediately and medical attention sought. Patients must not adjust the dosage or discontinue the medication on their own, to avoid compromising treatment effectiveness or causing recurrence of the condition.