RESEARCH ARTICLE


Bite Injuries to the Hand: Microbiology, Virology and Management



M. Malahias1, D. Jordan2, O. Hughes2, Wasim S. Khan3, S. Hindocha*, 2
1 Plastic Surgery Department, Good Hope Hospital, West Midlands, B75 7RR, UK
2 Plastic Surgery Department, Whiston Hospital, Liverpool, L35 5DR, UK
3 University College London Institute of Orthopaedics & Musculoskeletal Sciences, Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital, Stanmore, London, HA7 4LP, UK


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Creative Commons License
© Malahias et al.; Licensee Bentham Open.

open-access license: This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.5/) which permits unrestrictive use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

* Address correspondence to this author at the Sandip Hindocha, Plastic Surgery Department, Whiston Hospital, Warrington Road, Liverpool, L35 5DR, UK; Tel: + 44(0)1244366265; Fax: +44(0)1244366265; E-mail: hindocha2001@yahoo.com


Abstract

Bites to the human hand, be it from a pet, a stray animal or even a fellow human, may often have dire consequences for the person suffering the insult. Bites by mammals are a common problem and they account for up to 1% of all visits to hospital emergency rooms, in the UK. Clenched fist injuries to the mouth (‘fight bite’) are notorious for being the worst human bites. Bite injuries of the hand and their related infections must be monitored vigilantly and managed proactively, by experts in this field of surgery. In this review article we discuss the associated microbiology and virology of these injuries as well as their management.

Keywords: Animal bite, bite, fight-bite, hand, human bite, microbiology, virology..