Rheumatic fever is a disease caused by infection with group A beta haemolytic streptococcus, which can involve joints, the heart and the nervous system, etc. In addition to rheumatic fever, rheumatic diseases also include metabolic diseases such as gout, degenerative diseases such as osteoarthritis, and connective tissue diseases such as systemic lupus erythematosus, rheumatoid arthritis, polymyositis, dermatomyositis, systemic sclerosis and spinal arthritis. In other words, rheumatism is the collective name for rheumatic immune diseases and rheumatic fever is a specific type of rheumatic disease associated with infection.