Emerging and Re-Emerging Pathogens in Valvular Infective Endocarditis: A Review

Infective endocarditis (IE) is a microbial infection of the endocardial surface, most commonly affecting native and prosthetic valves of the heart. The epidemiology and etiology of the disease have evolved significantly over the last decades. With a growing elderly population, the incidence of degenerative valvopathies and the use of prosthetic heart valves have increased, becoming the most important predisposing risk factors. This change in the epidemiology has caused a shift in the underlying microbiology of the disease, with Staphylococci overtaking Streptococci as the main causative pathogens. Other rarer microbes, including