What to do if a child is bitten by a dog or scratched? This question is asked by many parents whose children were attacked by an animal. About what measures to take in this case, we will describe in this article.
Basic information
It is no secret to anyone that dog bites are very dangerous. Therefore, questions about what to do if a child is bitten by a dog, what to do in this case, are quite relevant.
Experts argue that the attack of a healthy animal requires mandatory treatment of the wound. As for a rabid dog, such bites can be deadly. In this regard, such injuries should be reacted as soon as possible. Moreover, even a slight scratch received from a sick dog can lead to disastrous consequences.
Memo to parents
The child was bitten by a dog - what to do and how to be? This is the first question that arises in the minds of most parents whose children have suffered from the animal. Very often, dog attacks on a child result in serious injuries and severe lacerations. That is why parents should be very careful about the safety of young children. At the same time, it is undesirable to let them get too close to the dogs. Indeed, many children themselves behave improperly with animals - they scare them, tease, pull by the tail and so on. As a result of this behavior, they are able to provoke aggression even in a completely peaceful dog.
Dog bit a child - what to do? Unfortunately, few parents know the answer to this question. Therefore, most of these attacks cause serious complications. To prevent their occurrence, we will tell you what measures should be taken in this case.
The dog bit the child: consequences
No animal attack is without consequences. If the dog has bitten your child, then most likely he will have an infection of the wound, as well as the development of a purulent-inflammatory process (at the site of the injury). This happens in 17-22% of all bites. Also, when bacteria enter the baby’s bloodstream, sepsis or systemic infection sometimes occurs.
Most often, microorganisms such as streptococci, pasteurella, staphylococcus and microbes, which multiply in an oxygen-free environment, cause wound infections . It should also be noted that in most cases the flora in such a wound has a mixed shape.
All of these bacteria are in the dog’s mouth and, after being bitten, they enter the wound area directly. Typically, infection develops 8–23 hours after the attack.
Symptoms of a wound infection
A dog has bitten a child - what should I do? Treatment of the baby should be carried out if the received wound was infected. The following local symptoms can talk about this phenomenon:
- The occurrence of purulent discharge, accompanied by an unpleasant odor.
- The development of inflammatory signs, including redness, pain, and swelling.
- Enlarged lymph nodes located near the site of the bite.
You should also pay attention to general symptoms. These include the following:
- headache;
- temperature rise;
- severe weakness;
- mild ailment.
Often with bites, infection occurs with diseases such as rabies and tetanus. In this case, treatment should be immediate.
First aid
A child was bitten by a dog - what should parents do? First you need to give your baby first aid. It involves the following points:
- flushing, as well as disinfection of the wound;
- careful processing of its edges;
- bandage;
- providing the baby with qualified medical care, as well as antimicrobial treatment, prevention of tetanus and rabies (if necessary).
Step by Step Actions
A dog has bitten a child - how to proceed? If your baby is very scared, you should definitely calm him down, give him a drink of water and explain his subsequent actions regarding the treatment of the wound. If the child is crying and experiencing severe pain, then he needs to take an anesthetic.
In the first minutes after a dog bite, it is necessary to thoroughly wash the resulting wound with medical soap (household soap), which should be previously dissolved in warm water. Such treatment is preferably carried out for at least ¼ hours. It will inactivate a not very resistant rabies virus.
After intensive washing of the wound with a soap solution, it should be treated with hydrogen peroxide in order to destroy possible infections. As for its edges, it is desirable to grease them with iodine or "green". After that, a gauze swab is required on the wound, which must be fixed with an aseptic dressing. It should be borne in mind that it should not be airtight (the wound should "breathe" well).
After first aid, the child should be taken to a trauma center for examination by a doctor and appropriate treatment. If necessary, the doctor will urgently carry out immunization against tetanus and rabies.
Actions of parents after first aid
What to do if a dog bites? Treatment of the injury should be carried out only by an experienced doctor. However, certain actions are also required of parents. For example, you need to check the dog that bit the baby. If it is domestic and you know its owner, then you should ask him for a certificate that the animal was vaccinated against rabies. As for the stray dog, it must be reported to the veterinary service.
If there is such a possibility, then a 10-day observation should be established for a bitten animal. It is advisable to do this under stationary conditions.
Signs of a mad dog
Dog bit a child - what to do? Immediately after first aid, you must find the attacked animal. Next, you should pay attention to indirect signs that allow you to judge the condition of the dog.
First you need to understand the cause of the bite. Indeed, very often children themselves provoke animals to such actions. In this case, the dog can be 90% healthy. If the animal attacked a person for no reason, then most likely it is infected with rabies. Most often, these dogs are lonely. They rush at people around them for no reason, bark loudly and rush about.
If the dog that harmed the child has already been shot, then experts are conducting a study of her brain in order to detect rabies.
Dog Bite Vaccinations
The child was bitten by a dog - what to do and where to go? After such an attack, the baby must immediately be taken to the emergency room. The doctor should inform the parent about further actions.
If after examination of the animal it turned out that it was infected with rabies, vaccination is carried out.
The rabies vaccine is quite effective. According to experts, it reduces the risk of infection by about 98%. However, such injections are effective only if they were given no later than two weeks after the bite. Although in fairness it should be noted that vaccination is also carried out when patients are contacted at a later date.
In complex cases (for example, if you see a doctor late, severe or multiple wounds), an anti-rabies immunoglobulin is prescribed in addition to the vaccine .
With such treatment, it should be borne in mind that over the next 30-90 days, the patient is contraindicated in hypothermia, physical overwork, overheating, etc. Adults and adolescents should be aware that alcohol is also completely prohibited. Otherwise, the victim’s immune system will weaken, and anti-rabies antibody production will decrease markedly.
Statistics
If a child is bitten by a domestic dog, this does not mean that she is not infected with rabies. Unfortunately, many parents refuse vaccination, citing the fact that their pet was not sick, although analyzes suggest otherwise. Such people should be aware that 75% of all deaths after an animal bite are victims who did not seek help on time or frivolously refused vaccination.
It should also be noted that half of all deaths are patients who interrupted the course of treatment or those who did not adhere to the strict recommendations of specialists.
When is vaccination given?
After a dog bites, the rabies vaccine is not always used. Such an injection is done only in the following cases:
- if a child is attacked by a wild animal (for example, bats, foxes, wolves and others);
- if the wound is very large, and also has a dangerous location (for example, on the head, neck, etc.);
- if the animal has run away, as a result of which it is not possible to conduct its examination;
- if the animal is observed for 10 days, then the patient is given 3 doses of the vaccine during this time (with normal results, vaccination is stopped).
It should also be noted that if the child was previously vaccinated and from that moment a year has not passed, he is prescribed 3 vaccines. If more than a year has passed, then a full course of treatment is carried out.
When is vaccination not done?
Now you know what to do if a child’s dog has bitten and what medicines to take. However, it should be noted that such an attack does not always require harsh measures.
Experts say that the vaccine is not given to the victim if:
- the dog touched the skin but did not damage it;
- the saliva of the animal did not get on the mucous membranes of the baby or on the wounds in the body;
- the bite was committed through a thick layer of clothing that was never bitten;
- the wound was caused by the beak or claws of a bird of prey;
- the child ate cooked meat (i.e., well thermally processed) or milk from a sick animal;
- a bite was made by domestic rats or mice in an area where rabies has not been reported in the last two years;
- the bite was committed by a pet previously vaccinated against rabies.
To summarize
Now you know what to do if your child is bitten by a dog. It should be noted that all measures for the disinfection of wounds, as well as vaccination against rabies, should be carried out as soon as possible after the attack. Indeed, very often such cases lead to the development of serious complications, and sometimes even to death.