All manner of animals can bite. In terms of mammalian bites, the most likely offenders are cats, dogs, other humans, and rabid creatures, such as foxes, raccoons, bobcats, skunks, and bats. By law, owners should vaccinate dogs, cats, and pet ferrets, though not everyone complies. If you’re bitten, someone—not you—should catch the animal so it can be tested for rabies. Call the police or state health department for assistance. The last thing you need is to be further injured and emotionally traumatized.
If the bite is deep or extensive, call 911. Otherwise, your first step is to wash the wound with soap and copious amounts of running water. If you keep povidone-iodine (an antiseptic chemical complex that contains iodine and is stocked in most drugstores) on hand, apply that, too (check the label to see whether it first should be diluted). Stanch bleeding by applying pressure and then a sterile bandage.
Seek medical attention for all bites that break the skin, especially human bites, which are most likely to become severely infected, and bites to the hands and face. In addition to having the wound properly treated, you may need a tetanus booster. If the animal has rabies (or couldn’t be caught and is presumed to have rabies), you may also need a rabies immune globulin injection and a four-part rabies vaccine. The rabies immune globulin is injected into the wound and surrounding tissue. In case you’ve heard tell of the vaccine being injected into the belly, rest assured that the vaccine is injected into the muscle in the upper arm or in the case of small children, the thigh.
To prevent getting bitten, follow these guidelines:
• Any wild animal that approaches you is behaving aberrantly. Do not lapse into Disney-esque romanticism and try to pet it.
• Teach children how to behave around domesticated animals.
Those rules include the following:
- Don’t try to touch strange pets unless the owner offers assurance that the animal is friendly.
- Don’t stick your hand over neighbors’ fences and into car windows to pet a dog. That dog may feel territorial of its space.
- Handle cats gently. Don’t try to restrain them.
- Don’t pet dogs that are eating, sleeping, or tending puppies—not unless you know that the dog doesn’t mind.
- Let dogs new to you sniff your hand before you try to pet them.
- Teach children not to run up to dogs, then run away screaming.
- If an aggressive-looking dog (wild or domestic) approaches, avoid eye contact and stand still. If the dog knocks you down, curl into a ball to protect your face and belly.
Animal Bites
Tick bites are another problem because they can carry disease-causing bacteria. If you live in the Northeast, Midwest, or Southeast and have a tick bite, contact your doctor about prophylactic antibiotics against Lyme disease. If you live in the Rocky Mountains or eastern United States, look for signs of Rocky Mountain spotted fever (fever, muscle pain, headache, abdominal pain, and rash). For more information about ticks, go to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website at www.cdc.gov/ticks/.
The bites of venomous snakes are among the more feared as the consequences can be serious. (Before antivenom was developed, one in ten people bitten by coral snakes died.) However, all snakes play useful roles in nature, and many aren’t venomous. Most of the time, bites occur because humans (or their dogs) have startled, handled, or harassed the animals. The trick is to avoid inadvertently threatening a snake because you simply didn’t see it—an easy mistake to make when snakes blend into the landscape. If you’re hiking in venomous snake habitat, wear boots and pants. The pants won’t stop the fangs, but the snake may bite the fabric rather than you.
If you’re bitten, call 911. Lie calm and still. Remember that few people die of venomous snakebites. (Children and elders are most at risk.) Immobilize the bitten limb and try to keep it below the level of the heart to slow the spread of venom through your circulatory system. Remove jewelry. Do not apply ice or a tourniquet, incise the bite, or attempt to suck out the venom. Those techniques aren’t effective and can cause tissue damage. At the hospital, you may be given antivenom, depending upon the type of snake.
Note: Attempting to capture a venomous snake can put you or others at risk. It’s usually enough to describe the snake to hospital staff.
Despite their small size, venomous spiders can cause a surprising amount of suffering. In fact, the venom of a female black widow is fifteen times more potent than that from a rattlesnake. Fatalities, however, are rare. As with snakebites, small children and elders are most at risk for adverse outcomes. And as with snakes, most spiders are benign and beneficial to the environment. Two venomous spiders common in the United States are black widow spiders (black with a red hourglass shape on the underside of the abdomen) and brown recluse spiders (brown with a violin shape on the top of the thorax).
Spiders don’t hunt humans. They bite when you disturb them. Symptoms of black widow bites include a sharp pain and redness at the site of the bite, followed by sweating, weakness, muscle cramps (especially in the abdominal wall), chest tightness, nausea, and vomiting.
Brown recluse spider bites sting. The area first turns red. Pain intensifies and itching becomes severe. Subsequent symptoms include fever, chills, nausea, vomiting, joint pain, a rash, and possibly blood in the urine. Sometimes the bite area blisters and ulcerates. One case was reported of the victim developing heart problems after being infected by the venom.
If you can safely capture the spider, do so. A specimen will ensure positive identification at the hospital. Right after being bitten, wash with soap and cool (not hot) water, apply ice, elevate the area above the heart, lie still, and have someone take you to the doctor or emergency room. Treatment may include pain medication, tetanus immunization, and antihistamines (for the itching of a brown recluse spider). Brown recluse spider bites may necessitate follow-up appointments for wound care.
Insect Stings
In the United States, scorpions inhabit the Southwestern desert. A scorpion’s stinger lies at the end of its tail, which it flicks over its head. Most species aren’t dangerous to humans, but some (for example, the bark scorpion) have venom strong enough to make you ill. Symptoms include local pain, swelling, itching, and changes in the skin’s color, hives, as well as sweating, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, stomach pain, anxiety, drowsiness, faintness, muscle twitching, blurred vision, numbness of the tongue, drooling, rapid heart rate, seizures, and unconsciousness.
If you are stung, call your doctor. Home treatment is the same as for spider bites. Severe symptoms require a visit to the emergency room. Children are most at risk for severe reactions. Antivenin exists for particular scorpion species.
Bees don’t sting unless threatened, probably because they die after they do. Wasps (which include paper wasps, hornets, and yellow jackets) may require only minimal provocation. Fire ants also sting.
Symptoms are usually relatively mild and include pain, redness, local swelling, itching, and burning. Multiple stings can cause fever and drowsiness. For people allergic to bee venom, an anaphylactic reaction can ensue. This lifethreatening allergic reaction leads to hives; nausea, vomiting, and dizziness; swelling of lips, mouth, and respiratory linings; runny nose, wheezing, respiratory distress, and, potentially, loss of consciousness.
Your first (and typically instinctive) step is to move away from the bees, wasps, or ants. Only honeybees leave behind their stinger. Immediately, scrape or flick off the stinger with your nail or a credit card. Some say to avoid squeezing the base, which releases more venom. Other experts say speed is more important.
People allergic to bee venom should carry an epinephrine auto-injector (EpiPen) and use it immediately. If an EpiPen isn’t available, call 911. Don’t wait for symptoms to develop. If you have an antihistamine on hand, take it. People with multiple stings may also need emergency treatment, especially if stung inside the mouth.
Saturday, 12 April 2014
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
0 comments:
Post a Comment