medical information

Animal Bites

These bites are especially serious because of the strong Convenient readymade bandages of gauze and adhesive tape are available in various small sizes at the drugstore or in most markets. This type of bandage is used for abrasions, lacerations, and open wounds, in the case of a wound of the palm of the hand, probability of infection. Also, the dread disease of rabies is transmitted by the bite of an animal. Dogs are by no means the only animals that transmit rabies; wild animals such as bats, squirrels, and rabbits also can infect humans.

WHAT TO DO
Remember that the extent of an animal bite cannot be judged by the wound's appearance. There may be more damage than is apparent.
1. Wash the wound thoroughly with running water to remove as much of the animal's saliva as possible. Continue for at least five minutes, using a clean cloth or gauze sponge with soap or detergent solution; then rinse the wound thoroughly with running water.
2. Cover the wound with a clean dressing and keep the injured part at rest.
3. Take the victim to a doctor's office or hospital as soon as possible and give a complete report on the circumstances of the bite.
4. Report the incident to police or local health authorities at once.
5. Because the rapidity of the development of rabies symptoms depends on the location of the wound and because no treatment can cure the disease after symptoms occur, the patient dare not delay treatment after possible exposure
to the virus.
6. Treatment consists of anti-rabies injections. If the biting animal is not known to be rabid and can be kept under observation for ten days and during this period remains healthy, or if laboratory tests of its brain prove it non-rabid, treatment may be stopped.