Usually alpha hemolytic Strep that are normal URT flora, but Staph can also be involved. Bacteria usually arise from a focal infection in the mouth or tonsils - enter the bloodstream, get to heart and settle in scar tissue if the heart has been previously damaged. Clots form and can break off. Fatal in a few months if untreated. Acute bacterial endocarditis caused by Staph aureus.
Organisms get from an initial site of infection via the blood to normal or abnormal heart valves.
Frequently is rapidly fatal if untreated. Can use PCN prophylatically before tooth extractions or tosillectomies especially in people who already have heart damage 4. Strep can also produce a pericarditis. A variety of microbes cause infections of the myocardium and produce a myocarditis. D. Rhumatic fever 1.