Animal bites (such as dog bites) and human bites are a relatively common type of injury.
In most cases, the wound that results from an animal bite is minor and can be treated with simple first aid.
This includes:
- cleaning the wound immediately and thoroughly by running it under warm water for a couple of minutes
- encouraging the wound to bleed by gently squeezing it, unless it is already bleeding freely
- using painkillers, such as ibuprofen or paracetamol, to help relieve the pain and inflammation
More severe bites will require hospital treatment to clean out the wound and remove any damaged tissue.
See your GP for advice even if the bite is minor, as there is a risk of animal and human bites becoming infected.
Read about treating animal and human bites.
Complications
The most common complication of an animal or human bite is the bite becoming infected by bacteria.
The saliva of any mammal contains hundreds of million bacteria from many different species, many of which can cause an infection.
Signs that a bite has become infected include the following:
- redness and swelling around the wound
- the wound becomes more painful
- fluid or pus is leaking from the wound
Read about the symptoms of an infected dog bite.
If you think a bite has become infected, seek immediate medical advice.
Although uncommon, infected animal and human bites can lead to more serious secondary infections. These can include the following:
Read about the complications of animal and human bites.
Causes
The three most common causes of bites are:
- dog bites, which account for around four out of five cases (80%)
- cat bites, which account for around one-in-seven cases (15%)
- human bites, which account for around one-in-20 cases (5%)
Bites from other animals such as mice, rats or hamsters are much rarer, occurring in around one-in-50 cases.
Dog bites
Dog bites are most common in young children, particularly boys, between five to nine years of age. It is estimated that around half of all children will be bitten by a dog at some point during their life, usually by either a family dog or a dog that belongs to a friend or neighbour.
Bites from stray dogs are rarer as they tend to be wary of humans and usually keep their distance.
Cat bites
It is estimated that the majority of cat bites involve stray, female cats.
All cats are predators, so they can react unpredictably, and this is particularly true of cats that are not used to living with people (undomesticated).
Only one-in-five cat bites are caused by a pet cat.
Human bites
Most human bites occur during a fight, usually when one person punches someone else in the teeth. This often occurs when one or both protagonists is under the influence of alcohol.
These are known as closed-fist bites or "fight bites". Men aged 16-25 years old are most likely to experience these bites as they are most likely to get into fights.
Read about the causes of animal and human bites.
Avoiding bites
Never leave a child unsupervised with a dog, regardless of what type of dog it is, or its previous behaviour.
Many of the more serious cases of dog bites happen when a child is left alone with a dog. Other ways to avoid being bitten, include:
- Respect a dog’s boundaries because, like many animals, dogs have a strong sense of personal space.
- Never approach a strange cat; the cat could be a stray and react aggressively.
- Avoid binge drinking; most people who end up in fights were previously drinking heavily.
Read about preventing animal and human bites.
How common are bites?
It is hard to estimate how common bites are as records are usually only kept of bites that were serious enough to require hospital treatment; which in England is around 6,000 cases of dog bites and 2,500 cases due to other bites, including human.
Reports of serious dog attacks resulting in fatalities, usually involving young children, receive a lot of media coverage. However, such cases are very rare in England: in 2010, there were two deaths as a result of dog bites.
