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Infective endocarditis

Endocarditis infectiosa · Infekční endokarditida

What it is

Bacteria settle on a valve and eat it away; emboli scatter everywhere.

Symptoms & signs

  • Prolonged fever
  • new murmur
  • night sweats
  • splinter haemorrhages
  • weight loss
  • stroke from emboli

🚩 Get help if…

  • call 112 / 911 now Sudden weakness, slurred speech or loss of vision
  • call 112 / 911 now Severe breathlessness or chest pain
  • see a doctor soon Fever with a valve problem, heart device or drug injecting
  • see a doctor soon Night sweats, weight loss and a new heart murmur

Where it strikes

Medical treatment

  • Blood cultures then 4–6 weeks IV antibiotics
  • valve surgery if destroyed or embolising
  • dental source control

Natural & lifestyle

  • Dental hygiene
  • prophylaxis in high-risk patients before dental work
  • no non-sterile injecting

Emerging & experimental

  • Bacteriophage therapy
  • antibiotic-eluting valve coatings

Alternative, off-label & anecdotal

Approaches used outside the guidelines, with what their supporters report and what testing has found so far.

  • Bacteriophage therapy — compassionate-use cures of resistant cases early / small studies
  • Garlic and oregano oil as antimicrobials — laboratory activity only; never a substitute for intravenous antibiotics anecdotal / traditional

ICD codes