Bite
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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For other uses, see Bite (disambiguation).
A bite is a wound received from the mouth (and in particular, the teeth) of an animal or person. Animals may bite in self-defense, or in an attempt to predate food. Other bite attacks may be apparently unprovoked, especially in the case of bites committed by psychologically or emotionally disturbed humans. Some disorders such as Lesch-Nyhan syndrome may cause people to bite themselves.
Bite wounds raise a number of medical concerns for the physician or first aider including:
- Generalized tissue damage due to tearing and scratching.
- Serious hemorrhage if major blood vessels are pierced.
- Infection by bacteria or other pathogens, including rabies.
- Introduction of venom into the wound by venomous animals such as some snakes.
- Introduction of other irritants into the wound, causing inflammation and itching.
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[edit] Examples
- Flea bites are responsible for the transmission of bubonic plague.
- Mosquito bites are responsible for the transmission of malaria.
- The bites of various animals may transmit rabies.
[edit] Treatment
Bite wounds are washed, ideally with povidone-iodine soap and water. The injury is then loosely bandaged, but is not sutured due to risk of infection.
Animal bites inflicted by carnivores (other than rodents) are considered possible cases of rabies. The animal is caught alive or dead with its head preserved, so the head can later be analyzed to detect the disease. Signs of rabies include foaming at the mouth, self-mutilation, growling, jerky behavior, and red eyes. If the animal lives for ten days and does not develop rabies, then it is probable that no infection has occurred.
If the animal is gone, prophylactic rabies treatment is recommended in most places. Certain places, such as Hawaii, are known not to have native rabies. Treatment is generally available in North America and the Northern European states.
Snakebite
Many of the world’s snakes are not considered dangerous to humans; however, even a bite from a “safe” species may cause significant injury to the victim if the wound is not treated properly. See snakebites for much more information.
Spiderbite
The black widow spider and some scorpions are considered dangerous to humans, although mostly to small children and elderly adults. Only the Sydney funnel-web spider of Australia is frequently dangerous to adults, and it resides only within 100 miles of Sydney Australia. Antivenins are available in the United States for black widow spiders and the dangerous scorpions native to the region. See spiderbite for much more information.
