Man Looses Part Of Leg;

[Nienke]

This is the so many times I read an article where a mere scratch from a dog bite turns into a life-threatening infection. So, I thought to place it on this forum for you to read and be warned for yourself or your loved-ones.

People particular at risk are those who have a problem with their spleen or had it removed as you can read in this article.

From: http://www.heraldnet.com/article/20091023/NEWS01/710239857

Dog bites happen to many people, and for most, a little soap, water and a quick medical check is all that's needed.

But the roll of the dice wasn't in Moore's favor. His Lab and heeler mix, Sadie, like an estimated 16 percent of dogs, had a type of bacteria in her mouth with a tongue-twisting name: capnocytophaga canimorsus.

That was bad enough. But Moore's problems were further worsened because of the previous surgery to remove his spleen, which weakened his immune system. In such cases, the resulting infection from a dog bite can be fatal in about a third of all cases, according to the Ontario Veterinary College, part of Canada's University of Guelph.

Infections in patients who have no spleen often are very severe, Diaz said. And the longer a patient waits to be treated, the worse they do.

[Mario2008]

Sad story, that easily could have been avoided. The high humidity and temperature make that people more easily get an infection. Thanks for the warning.

[alfieconn]

This is the so many times I read an article where a mere scratch from a dog bite turns into a life-threatening infection. So, I thought to place it on this forum for you to read and be warned for yourself or your loved-ones.

People particular at risk are those who have a problem with their spleen or had it removed as you can read in this article.

From: http://www.heraldnet.com/article/20091023/NEWS01/710239857

Dog bites happen to many people, and for most, a little soap, water and a quick medical check is all that's needed.

But the roll of the dice wasn't in Moore's favor. His Lab and heeler mix, Sadie, like an estimated 16 percent of dogs, had a type of bacteria in her mouth with a tongue-twisting name: capnocytophaga canimorsus.

That was bad enough. But Moore's problems were further worsened because of the previous surgery to remove his spleen, which weakened his immune system. In such cases, the resulting infection from a dog bite can be fatal in about a third of all cases, according to the Ontario Veterinary College, part of Canada's University of Guelph.

Infections in patients who have no spleen often are very severe, Diaz said. And the longer a patient waits to be treated, the worse they do.

Hi Nienke, i recently had an incident whereby while in my wife's village, my dog decided to shake his head vigoursly and stab me in the leg with one of his canine teeth causing a gash about 2cm across and about 5mm deep.

I immediatly went to the local nurse who cleaned and dressed the word, inserted a stitch,gave me a tetanus injection and a course of anti-biotics.

After 6 days and in the mean time returning to Chiang Mai the wound didn't look right so i took myself off to the local hospital who told me that the wound had become infected and that it shouldn't have been stitched and that the anti-biotics wasn't strong enough.

They then took out the stitch, took a swab of the area to check for any bacteria and placed me on 3 different types of anti-biotics, the way i understood it in case of a bacterial infection and then back everyday to the hospital for cleaning and dressing.

After a week, a further check by a doctor who told me there was no bacteria present and that the wound still needed to be cleaned everyday.

I was a bit mystified that i thought that all infections were caused by bacteria but what do i know !

Just another point, my dog was up to date on his rabies shots so no worries there.

Hopefully this just might help someone in the future.

[LivinLOS]

Dogs arent the only ones with bacteria in the mouths.. I had a human bite to the bone on my thumb and they wouldnt seal / sticth it for about a week, every day back to the hospital while they tore off the dressing and ripped out the padding and gauze in the wound to make sure they didnt seal in mouth based bacteria infection.