Patient and parent adherence to the medical plan is important. Frequent home monitoring by a home health nurse who assesses wellness, adherence to drug therapy, absence of complications, and absence of drug toxicity is part of the plan. It is reasonable that such a standard would include prompt (min- utes to hours) access to medical and surgical care and cardiac follow-up should complications develop (Class IIa; Level of Evidence C). 6. Additional blood cultures performed after comple- tion of antibiotic treatment may be considered but might also result in isolation of a contaminant (Class Table 6. Length of Treatment of Infective Endocarditis* Native valve highly susceptible streptococci 4 wk Native valve relatively resistant streptococci 4 wk Prosthetic material, caused by viridans streptococci or Streptococcus bovis Native valve Staphylococci, susceptible to oxacillin 4 6 wk Native valve Staphylococci resistant to oxacillin 6 wk Prosthetic valve Staphylococci At least 6 wk Native or prosthetic valve enterococcus 4 6 wk Native or prosthetic valve enterococcus treated with vancomycin Native or prosthetic valve HACEK endocarditis 4 wk Native valve culture-negative endocarditis 4 6 wk Prosthetic valve culture-negative endocarditis 6 wk Enteric Gram-negative endocarditis At least 6 wk HACEK indicates Haemophilus species, Aggregatibacter species, Cardiobacterium hominis, Eikenella corrodens, and Kingella species. *These are approximate lengths of treatment for typical episodes of infective endocarditis. Patients with complicated episodes or recurrences may require additional treatment. Recommendations are the published consensus of expert reviewers. Two weeks may be adequate for some adult patients but is not recommended for children because of lack of effectiveness data. Baltimore et al Infective Endocarditis in Childhood: 2015 Update 1499 Table 7. 