Guilherme Augusto Reissig Pereira et al. Graziela Regina Kist Tiago Santini Machado Christiano da Silveira de Barcellos
Introduction
Infectious endocarditis (IE) is a severe infectious disease with an annual incidence of 3 – 7 cases per 100 000 people, and is considered the 3rd most life-threatening infection after pneumonia and intra-abdominal abscess. Intra-hospital mortality ranges from 15 to 30% and patients affected today are older and have more comorbidities than in the past.
In IE the treatment is traditionally performed in hospitalized patients, due to the need for intravenous antibiotics. Patients with IE on the left side of the heart are typically treated for 2 – 6 weeks, according to the American and European Guidelines. – Enterococcus spp. is the third cause of IE, representing 10% of cases in non-users of intravenous drugs, and is considered to be a bacterium that is difficult to eradicate, requiring 6 weeks and the combination of antibiotics.
[…]