[Rheumatic fever in childhood--today].

Acute rheumatic fever in the young: a review of historical land marks and the current status of rheumatic fever are discussed. The follows are presented here: prevent-day epidemiology; the role of group A streptococcus and the reappearance of "rheumatogenic" serotypes; the host's susceptibility and the tantalizing possibility of a genetic basis; the basis of autoimmune pathogenesis (so-called molecular mimicry); the increasing diagnostic difficulties and the critical review of Jones criteria; the reassessment of primary prevention and the couvent possibility of a streptococcal vaccine.