Jones Criteria (Acute Rheumatic Fever, 2015)
2015 revised Jones criteria (AHA, Gewitz 2015) for diagnosing acute rheumatic fever.
Open the calculator → Runs in your browser. Data leaves only if you deliberately send a problem report from the interactive tool.
Example
- Evidence of preceding group A strep
- Yes
- Carditis (clinical and/or subclinical)
- Yes
- Polyarthritis
- Yes
Result: Meets the Jones criteria for initial acute rheumatic fever: 2 major manifestations (carditis + polyarthritis) with group A strep evidence.
The tool opens with these values already filled in. Replace them with your own.
What the result means
- Met
- Initial ARF: 2 major, or 1 major + 2 minor. Recurrent ARF also allows 3 minor. Requires evidence of preceding group A strep, except isolated chorea.
- Needs strep evidence
- The manifestation count is met but evidence of preceding group A strep is not documented (and it is not isolated chorea).
- Not met
- Fewer manifestations than the threshold for the chosen episode type.
What you enter
- Population risk tier (low / moderate-high)
- Episode (initial / recurrent ARF)
- Evidence of preceding group A strep
- Carditis (clinical and/or subclinical) [major]
- Sydenham chorea [major; sufficient alone]
- Erythema marginatum [major]
- Subcutaneous nodules [major]
- Polyarthritis [major, both tiers]
The other 6 fields
- Monoarthritis [major in moderate/high-risk only]
- Polyarthralgia [major in moderate/high-risk; minor in low-risk]
- Monoarthralgia [minor in moderate/high-risk only]
- Fever (>= 38.5 C low-risk / >= 38 C moderate-high-risk) [minor]
- Elevated ESR (>= 60 low / >= 30 moderate-high mm/h) and/or CRP >= 3 mg/dL [minor]
- Prolonged PR interval (counts only if carditis absent) [minor]
How this is calculated
Gewitz MH, Baltimore RS, Tani LY, et al. Revision of the Jones Criteria for the diagnosis of acute rheumatic fever in the era of Doppler echocardiography: a scientific statement from the American Heart Association (AHA). Circulation. 2015;131(20):1806-1818. Read the source ↗
A reference and educational tool. Not medical, legal, or financial advice, and not a substitute for clinician judgment.