Sunday, April 26, 2009

It's better to be bitten by a dog than a human

It's better to be bitten by a dog than a human because aside from rabies, the majority of germs in a dogs mouth do not effect humans, whereas all of the germs in a human mouth will get other humans sick. Not to say a dogs mouth isn't dirty, they eat plenty of horrible things, or that a dogs teeth wouldn't do more damage than a person's, but the risk of infection is significantly less for a dog bite than a human bite. Personally, I'd rather not be bitten by anything.


Pick your poison....

According to a reputable source (someone I know with EMT training) a human bite has a 100% chance of becoming infected. I happen to know this from experience. A friend of mine was recently bitten by a human on the PATH train (no lie). The biter was a drunk girl who was yelling and making a ruckus on the train. A male friend of mine told the girl to be quiet, as it was very annoying, and in reply she lunged at him, striking him repeatedly with her purse, and then decided to attack my other friend (an innocent bystander), and went Mike Tyson on her finger. No worries, the crazy cannibal girl was arrested...and the train is safe again. Thank you transit police. It was quite an ordeal, resulting in a trip to the hospital, a tetanus shot and an infected finger.

Friends don't let friends bite strangers.


Human bites are more common than you may think. They are the third most common kind of bite treated in emergency rooms (after evil cats and puppies), with 60% of bites occurring above the waist.

So what should you do if you, or someone you know, is bitten by a human? Here are a few steps to preventing serious infection:
  • Wash the wound thoroughly with soap and water (or if you are somewhere that is not available, like a train station, hydrogen peroxide or alcohol)
  • If the wound is bleeding, apply pressure to help stop the blood flow
  • Bandage the wound to protect it from further contamination
  • Have the wound examined by a medical professional; it is very likely that antibiotics and a tetanus shot will be needed in order to prevent serious infection

For more information on the treatment of human bite wounds, click here.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Dog Bites can be serious!!!
I got bitten because a dog got off of its leash when it was tied in the back of a car. It got in the front and bit me 17 times while driving. The dog was scared and acted aggressively is what was assesed. A good solid crate would have avoided a lot of problems. A loose animal in a vehicle can cause a lot of problems.