Antibiotic prophylaxis is the use of antibiotics before surgery and used by clinicians for the prevention of numerous infectious diseases, including herpes simplex infection, rheumatic fever, recurrent cellulitis, meningococcal disease, recurrent uncomplicated urinary tract infections in women, spontaneous bacterial peritonitis in patients. The most common antibiotics used before surgeries are cephalosporins, such as cefazolin and cefuroxime. Your doctor may prescribe vancomycin if you are allergic to cephalosporins.