Recurrence of Rheumatic Fever

Abstract

To the Editor.— In a case report on prophylaxis for rheumatic fever, Nordin1 expressed dismayed surprise that monthly injections of 1.2 million units of benzathine penicillin G (BPG) had failed to prevent the recurrence of rheumatic fever in a 9-year-old girl. Although BPG was clearly the best of the various antistreptococcal prophylactic regimens tested in randomized clinical trials conducted by my colleagues and me at Irvington House during the late 1950s and 1960s, BPG was not perfect.