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RecruitingNCT06720272PREVENTUpdated Jan 20, 2026

School-based Program for the Prevention of Rheumatic Heart Disease in Endemic Regions

An interventional study of School nurse program in Rheumatic Heart Disease in Children, sponsored by Thomas Pilgrim. Recruiting at 2 sites in 2 countries. Open to participants aged 5 Years to 16 Years, including healthy volunteers. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2026-01-20.

Sponsored by Thomas Pilgrim · Not applicable, Interventional, and Prevention

From the registry’s dates

  • Started Dec 2024; still recruiting 1 year 10 months later.
Phase
Not applicable
Study type
Interventional
Enrollment
6,000
Allocation
Randomized
Ages
5 Years to 16 Years
Sex
All
01

Study summary

The overall objective of the PREVENT trial is to evaluate the effectiveness of an integrated, school-based program for the prevention of rheumatic heart disease (RHD) in regions with an endemic pattern of RHD.

We conduct a stepped wedge cluster randomized trial in randomly selected schools in Nepal and Zambia.

The intervention will be delivered at the level of the school and consists in the introduction of a dedicated school-nurse program providing health care through education about RHD, assessment, intervention, and follow-up of GABHS pharyngitis, and facilitation of secondary antibiotic prophylaxis for children with RHD.

02

Conditions studied

  • Rheumatic Heart Disease in Children

Keywords

  • rheumatic heart disease
  • valvular heart disease
  • prevention
  • streptococcal pharyngitis
  • rheumatic fever
03

In context

Rheumatic Heart Disease

61 studies on the registry are indexed under Rheumatic Heart Disease; 25 are open to participants now.

This study's planned enrollment of 6,000 is above the median of 221 across 37 interventional studies indexed under Rheumatic Heart Disease.

Browse Rheumatic Heart Disease studies →

Lead sponsor

Thomas Pilgrim is the lead sponsor of 2 studies on the registry; 1 is open to participants now.

Counted across the registry records on this site, refreshed daily.

04

Who can participate

Ages eligible
5 Years to 16 Years
Sexes eligible
All
Accepts healthy volunteers
Yes

Go through the criteria one by one — yes, no or not sure — and take the list to your doctor or the study team. Kept in this browser only.

Inclusion criteria

- Children aged 5-16 years

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Children / primary caregivers not providing to participate
  • Children not attending one of the selected schools
Terms in these criteria, in plain language(1)

Underlined terms in the criteria open these too. Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.

Informed consent

Before you join, the study team explains what taking part involves — its purpose, what happens, the risks and possible benefits — and answers your questions, so you can decide freely. Consent is usually recorded on a form (the informed consent form, ICF) signed by you or, where the law allows, by someone legally authorised to decide for you.

You can keep asking questions during the study, you are told of new information that matters, and you can choose to leave at any time.

05

Study design

Phase
Not applicable
Primary purpose
Prevention
Allocation
Randomized
Intervention model
Sequential assignment
Masking
Single (Outcomes assessor)
Enrollment
6,000 participants (estimated)

Study arms

  • Experimental
    School nurse program

    The experimental intervention consists in a school nurse program providing integrated health care through diagnosis, intervention, and follow-up of group A beta-hemolytic streptococcal pharyngitis, and facilitation of secondary antibiotic prophylaxis for children with rheumatic heart disease.

    Other: School nurse program

  • No intervention
    Standard of care

    No school nurse prorgam.

Interventions

  • OtherSchool nurse program

    The intervention consists in the introduction of a school-nurse program providing health care through education about rheumatic heart disease, assessment, intervention, and follow-up of group A beta-hemolytic streptococcal pharyngitis, and facilitation of secondary antibiotic prophylaxis for children with rheumatic heart disease.

06

What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. Rheumatic heart disease

    The primary outcome of the study will be the reduction in prevalence of rheumatic heart disease according to WHF criteria 2023 as assessed by systematic echocardiographic screening.

    Time frame: The endpoint will be assessed after a minimum of 1 and a maximum of 3 years after introduction of the school nurse program.

07

Study locations

2 of 2 sites recruiting
  • National Academy od Medical Sciences
    Kathmandu, Nepal
    Recruiting
    • Kunjang Shrestha, MD · Contact
    • Poonam Sharma, MD · Principal investigator
  • Centre of Infectious Disease Research
    Lusaka, Zambia
    Recruiting
    • Guy K Muula · Contact
08

References and documents

Individual participant data

Plan to share: Undecided

No publications or documents are linked to this record.

09

Timeline

Tracking since Sep 25, 2026
ElapsedEstimatedEstimated, not yet reached

Started Dec 2024 (actual). Primary completion is estimated for Feb 2028, 38 months after the start.

How these figures are worked out, and which studies are left out of them.

Registered
Dec 3, 2024
First posted
Dec 6, 2024
StartActual
Dec 15, 2024
Primary completionEst.
Feb 2028
CompletionEst.
Feb 2028
Last update
Jan 20, 2026
What these dates mean
Start.
When the first participant enrolled; while estimated, when the study expects to open to recruitment.
Primary completion.
When the last participant was examined or treated to collect data for the study's main question, its primary outcome. A study that stopped early gives the date its data collection stopped.
Completion.
When the last participant's last visit took place, for every outcome, secondary ones and side effects included: the end of the study. Often later than primary completion, sometimes the same day.
Actual and Est.
Actual means the registry says the date has happened. Est. (estimated) is a date the sponsor plans or expects. It can still move, and the sponsor is expected to change it to actual once it has passed.
No changes since tracking began. The registry record was last updated on Jan 20, 2026, before this site started recording changes on Sep 25, 2026. Its history is on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
10

Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT06720272
Lead sponsor
Thomas Pilgrim
Collaborators
Centre for Infectious Disease Research in Zambia, National Academy of Medical Sciences, Nepal, University of Oxford
Responsible party
Thomas Pilgrim (MD, MSc, Insel Gruppe AG, University Hospital Bern) — Sponsor-investigator
First posted
Dec 6, 2024
Start date
Dec 15, 2024
Primary completion
Feb 2028 (estimated)
Completion
Feb 2028 (estimated)
Last update
Jan 20, 2026

Study contacts

Thomas Pilgrim Bern University Hospital, Bern, Switzerland
Contact
thomas.pilgrim@insel.ch
+41 31 632 08 27

Oversight

Data monitoring committee
Yes
FDA-regulated drug
No
FDA-regulated device
No
View the source record on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗

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