With subacute endocarditis, bacteria home in on already-damaged heart valves. That's why the doctor suggested your son might have had rheumatic fever.

Native-valve infective endocarditis is uncommon, with an incidence of approximately 2 to 10 cases per 100,000 person-years. 1,2 The presumed initiating event is injury to the valvular endothelium ...

Endocarditis is treated with antibiotics, almost always intravenously to begin with, but complications such as an abscess or heart failure may require surgery, either repair or a valve replacement.

In the past, infective endocarditis was associated with rheumatic heart disease and most often caused by bacteria in the mouth. However, new risk factors, such as intravenous opiate abuse, ...

B. J. Clawson, Studies on the Etiology of Acute Rheumatic Fever, The Journal of Infectious Diseases, Vol. 36, No. 5 (May, 1925), pp. 444-456 ... A positive blood culture in liquid medium should not ...

No petechia were seen. The rest of the examination revealed no abnormal findings. Rheumatic fever with heart disease and with aortic insufficiency was diagnosed. The possibility of subacute bacterial ...