What factors should be considered when devising empirical treatment regimens for CNE?
Empirical treatment regimens for CNE should be devised only after important epidemiological factors are considered, including whether or not there has been recent antimicrobial exposure before obtaining blood cultures, what specific antimicrobial agent was given (if there was prior antimicrobial exposure), determination of the route of acquisition of microbes, whether the infection was community acquired, nosocomial, or non-nosocomial health care associated, what environmental exposures there had been (including injection drug use), type of valve infected (whether native or prosthetic) and, if prosthetic, how long it had been implanted, and the clinical course of infection, whether acute, subacute, or chronic. 