Can rheumatic fever start causing heart damage years later?

Hello everyone,

I have a question regarding rheumatic fever and the possibility of developing a heart disease.
When I was 9 I was diagnosed with a case of rheumatic fever in a country where it is practically unheard of.
I had regular ECGs and echocardiograms done for about a year after the symptoms disappeared. My last ECG was 3 years ago and was part of a regular check-up (not intended to check for Rheumatic Heart Disease). The results were always normal and did not show any damage to the heart.

I am in my early 20's now and only recently have heard about Rheumatic Heart Disease appearing decades later and being asymptomatic at first.
Now I wonder whether the tests done in my childhood could exclude the possibility of RF-related heart disease developing later in my life, since it could not be detected in the year after my diagnosis. As far as I know, my RF was not accompanied by any symptoms affecting my heart.

Thank you very much.