Strep throat to rheumatic heart disease: Bay of Plenty woman undergoes three surgeries

Bay of Plenty mother Mereana Hona underwent three open heart surgeries in 12 months after being diagnosed with rheumatic heart disease.

Bay of Plenty mother Mereana Hona underwent three open heart surgeries in 12 months after being diagnosed with rheumatic heart disease - a condition that develops from untreated strep throat. Growing up in a rural area near Whakatāne, Hona says she caught strep throat when she was younger and didn’t see a doctor. Decades later, she needed “emergency” surgery. Now, Hona is encouraging parents of children with strep throat to see a doctor and for others to get “regular” heart checks. Megan Wilson reports.

When Mereana Hona was told she had rheumatic heart disease, one of her first thoughts was: “Isn’t that the old person’s disease?”

The 51-year-old, who lives in Manawahe near Matatā, said she saw her doctor in 2020 after experiencing shortness of breath, fatigue and “wheezing”.

The doctor told her she needed “emergency” surgery.

“I didn’t think it was real,” the mother-of-10 said.

Bay of Plenty mother Mereana Hona underwent three open heart surgeries in 12 months after being diagnosed with rheumatic heart disease.

Hona had open heart surgery at Auckland Hospital and had two heart valves replaced. Due to complications, she required open heart surgery 10 days later.

Eight months later, in 2021, Hona had a third open heart surgery due to an infection.

Post-surgery, Hona said she was physically “really good”.

However, “I wouldn’t want anyone to go through it”.

Hona’s story comes as Te Whatu Ora Health New Zealand says it is important children with a sore throat get checked, especially if they live in particular regions - including the Bay of Plenty and around Rotorua and Taupō.

Getting strep throat as a child

Hona said she grew up in a “rural community” in Paroa near Whakatāne and housing “wasn’t good at the time”.

She said her surgeon told her she would have got strep throat - which was left untreated - when she was younger.

Hona, of Ngāti Awa Ki Te Awa o Te Atua, Ngāti Awa, Te Whānau ā Apanui, Tūhourangi and Te Ati Haunui a Papārangi, said she had a “quite physically demanding” life.

She raised 10 children, worked two jobs and travelled.

Hona said her heart had reached “breaking point”.

Mereana Hona caught strep throat when she was younger, which developed into rheumatic heart disease.

Post-surgery, Hona said she struggled to believe she was “okay” and thought she would have to stay home, unable to do anything.

“But it was all in my mind. And the surgeons [told] me, ‘Mereana, you’ll be able to live an active life even more because your heart will be at its finest’.”

Mereana Hona completed a two-year Master’s degree in indigenous knowledge in December.

Call for heart defibrillators at Waka Ama clubs

As a former competitor, coach, team manager, president and board member of Waka Ama club Nga Hau Maiangi, Hona said a few people had died on the water while training for the “high intensity” sport.

She said Waka Ama was a “generational sport” with the youngest competitor being just 5 and the oldest being in their 80s.

“That’s every reason why you need a heart defibrillator... at Waka Ama clubs.”

What is rheumatic heart disease?

Te Whatu Ora Health New Zealand cardiac national clinical network co-lead Dr Cara Wasywich said rheumatic heart disease developed from rheumatic fever, which started with strep throat.

While most strep throats got better, an untreated strep throat could develop into rheumatic fever in a “small number of people”.

This led to their heart, joints, brain and skin becoming “inflamed and swollen”, Wasywich said.

She said the inflammation from one rheumatic fever attack could develop into rheumatic heart disease, scarring the heart valves.

Wasywich said it was important children with a sore throat got checked, especially if they lived in Northland, Auckland, around Rotorua and Taupō, Waikato, the Bay of Plenty, Gisborne and the East Coast, Hawke’s Bay, Wellington or the Hutt Valley.

She said Māori and Pacific children were at greater risk from rheumatic fever. Māori and Pacific children aged between 4 and 19 who had a sore throat and lived in these areas should get checked straight away.

Wasywich said many patients with rheumatic heart disease would require more than one surgical treatment.

She explained the condition would generally present in people at a young age and during the patient’s lifetime, the surgical intervention - a tissue valve, valve repair or a mechanical heart valve - would wear out and need replacement.

Wasywich said the average number of cardiac surgical treatments performed nationally each year for the past three financial years was 4475.

Heart Foundation - a heart check ‘can save your life’

In a media release last year, Heart Foundation medical director Dr Gerry Devlin said checking heart strength could identify ways to reduce the risk of having a heart event or condition in the future.

The foundation launched its Stand Strong campaign last year, encouraging people to become aware of heart disease and its risks.

“Our message to people is that a simple check of your heart can save your life,” a foundation spokeswoman said.

People could learn more using the My Heart Check tool on the foundation’s website.

Megan Wilson is a health and general news reporter for the Bay of Plenty Times and Rotorua Daily Post. She has been a journalist since 2021.