[Prevention of bacterial endocarditis: current recommendations]

International consensus has been reached on the guidelines of prevention programmes of bacterial endocarditis in patients bearing a valvulopathy and submitted to various diagnostic or surgical procedures. They are presently characterised by: 1) targeting of indications: less procedures have to be covered by an appropriate antibiotic and owing to progresses made in ultrasonography, less patients with mitral valve prolapse have to be protected; 2) simplification of the administration of the antibiotics: priority is given to the oral route and two doses are sufficient, one before, and one after the procedure; 3) the dropping of penicillin V and the questioning of erythromycin: amoxicillin becomes the first-choice drug, more often administered orally than parenterally; in case of allergy to beta-lactams, clindamycin takes precedence over macrolides. Those new strategies for antibiotic prophylaxis should reveal themselves better followed, more performant and less expensive.