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Animal bite injuries are associated with a high health risk.
Not only can extensive tissue destruction be the result, harmful pathogens can also be transmitted via animal saliva.
In rabies-endangered areas (which are given notice of officially), dog bites and, more rarely, cat bites are to be expected to pass on rabies. Wild animals, in particular, such as foxes and badgers, which trustingly approach people and then bite, are suspected of having rabies. Not all bites from rabid animals automatically mean that the person bitten will get rabies. If rabies does, however, break out, untreatable cramp attacks and suffocation symptoms occur if not treated.
Animal bite wounds and bite wounds by humans should always be assessed and treated by a physician.
As a first aid measure, apply sterile gauze dressing to arrest bleeding.
In the event of heavier bleeding, you can use a pressure bandage.
Place a sterile gauze dressing on the wound and secure it with a gauze bandage. Then place a First-Aid standard dressing on the gauze bandage, exerting a little pressure thereby, and secure this pressure bandage with another gauze bandage, for example.
Apart from a few exceptions (such as bite wounds in children’s faces), bite wounds are not stitched, but treated open with antiseptics. Your physician will determine the precise action to be taken. You should also discuss with your physician the risk of rabies and eventual vaccination.
If bitten by an animal suspected of having rabies, you must undergo immediate vaccination treatment.
In principle, preventative antibiotic treatment is introduced and, if tetanus protection is inadequate, appropriate vaccination is administered.
Children are subject to bite injuries to a high degree, as they are not yet able to properly judge how animals behave. As a result of often being very close, children easily forget that an animal can also bite and scratch. That is why you should teach your children how to handle animals properly.
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