Infectious Diseases, Immune Disorders and Nutritional Deficiencies§ 4.88bUpdated
Rating criteria

VA Diagnostic Code 6309Rheumatic fever

Rated from 0% to 100% under § 4.88b. Here is what the VA requires at each level.

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The ladder

What each rating requires

The VA assigns the highest level your evidence actually supports. Read up the stack until your records stop matching.

  1. 100%

    For active disease

  2. 100%

    As active disease

  3. 100%

    As active disease

  4. 100%

    As active disease

  5. 100%

    As active disease

  6. 100%

    Marked mental changes, moist dermatitis, inability to retain adequate nourishment, exhaustion, and cachexia

  7. 60%

    With all of the symptoms listed below, plus mental symptoms and impaired bodily vigor

  8. 40%

    With stomatitis, diarrhea, and symmetrical dermatitis

  9. 20%

    With stomatitis, or achlorhydria, or diarrhea

  10. 10%

    Confirmed diagnosis with nonspecific symptoms such as: decreased appetite, weight loss, abdominal discomfort, weakness, inability to concentrate and irritability

  11. 100%

    With congestive heart failure, anasarca, or Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome

  12. 60%

    With cardiomegaly, or; with peripheral neuropathy with footdrop or atrophy of thigh or calf muscles

  13. 30%

    With peripheral neuropathy with absent knee or ankle jerks and loss of sensation, or; with symptoms such as weakness, fatigue, anorexia, dizziness, heaviness and stiffness of legs, headache or sleep disturbance

  14. 100%

    Marked mental changes, moist dermatitis, inability to retain adequate nourishment, exhaustion, and cachexia

  15. 60%

    With all of the symptoms listed below, plus mental symptoms and impaired bodily vigor

  16. 40%

    With stomatitis, diarrhea, and symmetrical dermatitis

  17. 20%

    With stomatitis, or achlorhydria, or diarrhea

  18. 10%

    Confirmed diagnosis with nonspecific symptoms such as: decreased appetite, weight loss, abdominal discomfort, weakness, inability to concentrate and irritability

  19. 100%

    As active disease

  20. 0%

    As acute or asymptomatic chronic disease

  21. 100%

    Not to be combined with ratings under DC 7809 Acute, with frequent exacerbations, producing severe impairment of health

  22. 60%

    Exacerbations lasting a week or more, 2 or 3 times per year

  23. 10%

    Exacerbations once or twice a year or symptomatic during the past 2 years

  24. 100%

    AIDS with recurrent opportunistic infections (see Note 3) or with secondary diseases afflicting multiple body systems; HIV-related illness with debility and progressive weight loss

  25. 60%

    Refractory constitutional symptoms, diarrhea, and pathological weight loss; or minimum rating following development of AIDS-related opportunistic infection or neoplasm

  26. 30%

    Recurrent constitutional symptoms, intermittent diarrhea, and use of approved medication(s); or minimum rating with T4 cell count less than 200

  27. 10%

    Following development of HIV-related constitutional symptoms; T4 cell count between 200 and 500; use of approved medication(s); or with evidence of depression or memory loss with employment limitations

  28. 0%

    Asymptomatic, following initial diagnosis of HIV infection, with or without lymphadenopathy or decreased T4 cell count

  29. 100%

    Which are nearly constant and so severe as to restrict routine daily activities almost completely and which may occasionally preclude self-care

  30. 60%

    Which are nearly constant and restrict routine daily activities to less than 50 percent of the pre-illness level; or which wax and wane, resulting in periods of incapacitation of at least six weeks total duration per year

  31. 40%

    Which are nearly constant and restrict routine daily activities from 50 to 75 percent of the pre-illness level; or which wax and wane, resulting in periods of incapacitation of at least four but less than six weeks total duration per year

  32. 20%

    Which are nearly constant and restrict routine daily activities by less than 25 percent of the pre-illness level; or which wax and wane, resulting in periods of incapacitation of at least two but less than four weeks total duration per year

  33. 10%

    Which wax and wane but result in periods of incapacitation of at least one but less than two weeks total duration per year; or symptoms controlled by continuous medication

How it is applied

General rating formula

General Rating Formula for Infectious Diseases

From the schedule

Notes on this code

These notes are part of the regulation. They change how the levels above are applied.

  • Note: Rate under the appropriate body system any residual disability of infection, which includes, but is not limited to, heart damage.

Rheumatic Fever (VA Diagnostic Code 6309)

Understanding how the VA rates rheumatic fever under the General Rating Formula for Infectious Diseases.

Diagnostic Code 6309 · 38 CFR § 4.88b · Body system: Infectious Diseases, Immune Disorders and Nutritional Deficiencies

What This Rating Covers

Rheumatic fever is evaluated by the VA under Diagnostic Code 6309, which falls within the General Rating Formula for Infectious Diseases. Because rheumatic fever is an infectious condition, the VA's approach considers both the active disease itself and any lasting effects it may leave behind.

An important note applies to this diagnostic code:

Note: Rate under the appropriate body system any residual disability of infection, which includes, but is not limited to, heart damage.

In plain terms: if the infection has caused lasting damage — for example, to the heart — that residual condition is rated under the body system it affects, rather than only under the rheumatic fever code itself.

Available Rating Levels

Under this code, the rating tied directly to rheumatic fever addresses the disease while it is active:

RatingWhat It Reflects
100%For active disease

When the disease is active, a 100% evaluation applies. Any disability that remains after the active phase — such as heart damage — is evaluated separately under the body system it affects, as described in the note above.

What the VA Looks For

When evaluating a claim involving rheumatic fever, the VA considers:

  • Whether the disease is active. Active rheumatic fever is assigned a 100% evaluation under this diagnostic code.
  • Residual disability from the infection. Any lasting effects of the infection — including, but not limited to, heart damage — are rated under the appropriate body system for that residual condition.

This information is drawn directly from the VA rating schedule for Diagnostic Code 6309. It is provided for general educational purposes and does not predict any individual claim outcome.

These criteria are a rendering of § 4.88b, diagnostic code 6309. The official version is the one that governs your rating.

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What next

How to claim this

Knowing the criteria is the first half. Getting your file to show them is the second.

  1. Find your level in the stack

    Read each rung against what your medical records already say. The level your records document today is the one the VA can support today.

  2. Name the gap

    Look at the rung above yours and write down exactly what it asks for that your file does not show yet — a diagnosis, a measurement, a prescribed brace, a doctor’s opinion linking it to service.

  3. Claim it by code

    File under diagnostic code 6309 and attach the evidence for the level you are asking for. Other Infectious Diseases, Immune Disorders and Nutritional Deficiencies codes may cover your secondary conditions.

Find out which rating your evidence supports.

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