Contents:
- Medical Video: Heart Disease and Heart Attacks - Bacteria
- How can bacterial endocarditis occur?
- Who can experience bacterial endocarditis?
- What are the symptoms of bacterial endocarditis?
- Can bacterial endocarditis be prevented?
- Treatment of bacterial endocarditis
Medical Video: Heart Disease and Heart Attacks - Bacteria
Simple medical procedures can cause the entry of bacteria into the bloodstream, and infections can spread to the inner heart layer or endocardium. Doctors call this bacterial infection endocarditis. If untreated, endocarditis may cause heart failure or death.
With the right treatment, most people with bacterial endocarditis recover quickly.
How can bacterial endocarditis occur?
Endocarditis almost always occurs when bacteria enter the bloodstream and attach to abnormal heart valves, usually due to previous heart conditions (such as mitral valve prolapse or thickening of the heart valve due to rheumatic fever) as well as misfortune.
Everyone gets a few germs in the blood every day, which appear if they go to the dentist or undergo simple or scratched surgery. Usually, bacteria are harmless before being neutralized with the immune system. However, some types of bacteria - most of which are members of the family Streptococcus, enterococcus, or staphylococcus - are able to utilize blood flow as a pathway to the heart.
Bacteria that can cause endocarditis generally live in the mouth, digestive system, urinary tract, or the upper part of the respiratory system without causing any harm. In addition, bacteria will usually stay in that place - if medical procedures do not open the pathway to the bloodstream.
Any dental procedure that causes bleeding, including cleaning teeth, can result in endocarditis. Other common infection opportunities include tonsillectomy, examination with a bronchoscope, prostate or bladder surgery, and other operations on the respiratory tract, digestive tract, or urinary tract. People who regularly inject illegal drugs also have the opportunity to multiply bacteria in the blood.
Who can experience bacterial endocarditis?
Bacteria rarely infect a normal and healthy heart. Everyone who starts getting endocarditis usually has severe heart damage. Many people whose natural or artificial heart valves are damaged due to congenital abnormalities or rheumatic fever. People with mitral valve prolapse are also at risk.
What are the symptoms of bacterial endocarditis?
Signs of bacterial endocarditis vary in each person and can be vague. Some people experience pain similar to flu with fever, chills, fatigue, and body aches that last for weeks or months. Others feel weak or lose weight without obvious reasons. Your doctor may suspect bacterial endocarditis after listening to your heartbeat with a stethoscope. The diagnosis is confirmed by a blood test and an echocardiogram, which is an ultrasound display of your heart.
Can bacterial endocarditis be prevented?
If you experience any type of heart damage, ask your doctor if you are susceptible to bacterial endocarditis. If the answer is yes, you must protect yourself. Make sure every dentist and general practitioner knows your condition. Before you undergo any procedure that can cause infection, the dentist or general practitioner must give a dose of antibiotics (most often 2 grams of amoxicillin, or other drugs if you are allergic to penicillin) which is taken an hour before the procedure. The doctor may provide a card that explains your condition to be stored in the wallet.
Treatment of bacterial endocarditis
When bacteria are lodged in the heart, you will need antibiotics for about 4-6 weeks. You may initially receive the drug by infusion at the hospital. Later, you can take antibiotics at home.
Ideally, the doctor can prescribe medications that specifically treat your infection. For example, daily doses of penicillin can eradicate most streptococcal bacteria. However, doctors often have to start treating infections before germs can be identified. In this case, you will be given a general antibiotic to attack bacteria that might cause problems.
In most cases, the infection will disappear quickly. Unfortunately, many types of bacteria begin to be resistant to antibiotics. The doctor will want to monitor you closely to make sure the medication works. In rare cases, if complications such as heart failure worsen during antibiotic treatment, you may need surgery to eliminate the infection.
