What are the recommended treatments for endocarditis in adults?
In adults, a 4-week course of ceftriaxone therapy has a bacteriologic cure rate of 98%,113 but only limited and retrospective data on the use of ceftriaxone in the treatment of IE in children have been published. A 2-week course of therapy with penicillin, ampicillin, or ceftriaxone combined with an aminoglycoside has become increasingly popular and results in bacteriologic cure rates of up to 98% in adults.114 This regimen is commonly used for uncomplicated cases of native valve IE but is not recommended for patients who have had clinical symptoms of endocarditis for >3 months or those who have an extracardiac focus of infection, an intracardiac abscess, or a mycotic aneurysm.