[Epidemiology of infective endocarditis].

In industrialized countries, after the eradication of rheumatic fever, rheumatic valve diseases progressively disappeared and the proportion of post-rheumatic infective endocarditis significantly decreased. Intravenous drug use, prosthetic valves, age-related degenerative valve sclerosis, and invasive procedures have become the most important risk factors for infective endocarditis. These changes resulted in a decreased incidence of streptococcal endocarditis and an increased incidence of staphylococcal endocarditis.