How serious are dog bites?

Dog bites are both a serious national problem and an event that can be physically and mentally scarring for victims who’ve been severely bitten. Every year 4.7 million people are bitten by dogs. About one in five, 800,000 people, seek medical treatment, including 386,000 people who visit hospital emergency rooms. In 2012, dogs killed 38 people. If you’ve heard the old saying that dogs have cleaner mouths than humans, don’t believe it.

Canine mouths are swarming with bacteria and viruses that can cause a multitude of serious and even fatal infections in the person bitten. Dogs can bite down with a pressure as high as 450 pounds per square inch – enough to fracture bones and the human skull – and the deeper the teeth chew through skin, flesh, tendon and bone, the higher the chance of developing a bacterial or viral infection.The most serious of these infections is rabies, a virus that infects the brain and nervous system and eventually causes death.

Thanks to vaccination and public education programs, cases of rabies have been virtually eliminated in the United States, down to one or two cases per year, which usually come from rabid bat bites. Nevertheless, for safety purposes, your treating physician may recommend you undergo a series of rabies shots if you can’t identify and test the dog that bit you. The good news is the treatment today is a lot less painful than in the past.

Another one of the more serious infections that can develop after a dog bite is Tetanus, which can lead to a tightening of the muscle fibers, especially around the face, known as lockjaw. That’s a good reason to have a Tetanus shot every five years, but if yours is overdue, you will need to get a booster.

Other infections caused by dog bites are less severe only because they aren’t usually fatal. Bites on the extremities, especially the hands, are more prone to infection because of the way our immune system works. When wounds get infected, they may not heal properly, a particularly distressing prospect for those who’ve been bitten in the face. If the bite or bites go deep enough, infection can spread throughout the body, even to the brain.

Scarring related to dog bites is one of the most common injuries sustained by victims of dog bites and attacks. A bite can consist of anything from a puncture wound to sizable laceration involving skin and underlying tissue. Deep wounds may require many stitches or surgery to close and repair and may result in permanent scarring.

A horrifying example of just how much damage dogs can do occurred in the greater Sacramento area in Rancho Cordova in 2012. Two unleashed pit bulls savagely mauled one man and severely bit another who tried to help ward of the attack. The man who was mauled was taken to UC Davis Medical Center in critical condition with severe bites to face, stomach, back, arms and legs. Fortunately, he survived.

No matter how “minor” the dog bite, you should always seek immediate medical treatment.