Beware, human bite more lethal than ape's

Kenya: Medical experts warn you should be worried if you fall prey to Uruguay’s football star Luis Suarez’s ravenous jaws.

In fact, it is out of the fear of severe bacteria infection that Dagoretti North MP Simba Arati was admitted to hospital after his finger was allegedly bitten during fracas in Parliament in December last year.

Science reveals that the human jaw makes it 40 to 50 per cent more efficient than for all great apes. After dog and cat bites, human bites are the third most common type of bites reported in hospitals.

It is the force and toxicity of these bites that has got physicians and forensic experts worried.

A study by Dr Robsam Ohayi at Enugu State University of Science and Technology Referral Hospital, Nigeria, shows that human bites have high risk of infection because of the bacteria found in the mouth.

The number of men, women and children who bite each other is high with most patients reluctant to admit to the cause of the injury and unwilling to seek legal redress.

In a paper titled ‘Human bite as a weapon of assault’ presented at the 4th African Society of Forensics Medicine conference in Nairobi recently, Dr Ohayi says biting humans have become a public health concern thus the need to understand the causes of incidents that lead to bites and profiles of offenders.

Human saliva is known to contain as many as 50 species of bacteria thus the reason why human bites are believed to have higher rates of infection than other injuries. These bite wounds are generally considered dirty or contaminated, and their treatment is difficult because of this risk. Some scientific studies have recorded transmission of infectious diseases like HIV and Hepatitis B during such bites.

Important structures

Dr Ohayi notes that most times doctors are faced by dilemmas when bites on the face reveal partial or total loss of important structure(s) of the face like the ears, the eyelids, the nose, the lips and other parts of the face. “Such losses may affect the appearance of the individual in future interactions and sometimes deny them livelihood thus critical decisions should be made,” he adds.

How do you know the bite wound is infected?

According to Dr Ohayi, pain and swelling or heat around the wound, pus discharge and fever are signs that treatment should be sought immediately adding that a weak immune system increases the potential for complications from a human bite.

To know the profile of the assailant, Dr Ohayi points out that any bite marks with distance greater than 3cm between the canines are most likely inflicted by an adult.

 

A five-year study of bite injuries between October 2005 and September 2009 in Mwanza Tanzania found out that there were more male patients than females with the majority patients in the 21 to 30 age group.

Another study in 2007 in Nigeria profiling bitten patients showed that 50 of the assailants who had caused the face bites were well known to the victims while 4 were strangers.

In this study, most bites were inflicted by women, either as a means of defence or to deface the victims and no reported cases of passionate love bite, vampirism, or cannibalism. “All the injuries were sustained during fights and the time of going for treatment was between 3 hours to 6 months,” reads excerpts of the findings. He further adds that suspicious wounds should be photographed next to a ruler, a thorough skin examination carried out and appropriate consultations made

“A tetanus jab should be administered to patients with a history of two or fewer immunisations,” he says adding that although the wound may appear minor, an infection can be severe if not treated.

About one third of all hand infections are caused by human bite wounds. These infections can move quickly and cause major complications, including destruction of the joint, if not treated promptly.

For superficial bites doctors advise that you should not put the bitten area in your mouth because this adds bacteria into the wound and if the skin around the wound is not broken, it should be washed thoroughly with soap and water or an antiseptic. Applying an antibiotic ointment to the area and cover with a nonstick bandage is a first aid measure before seeking medical advice.

For deep wounds, they may require stitching and surgery may be necessary if there is damage to tendons or joints.

Though the recovery from a human bite depends on its severity and whether the wound has become infected, doctors estimate it usually heals within seven to ten days if treated properly though deeper bites may cause scarring and nerve damage.

Globally, there is ongoing debate on the acceptance of the  analysis of human bites where experts  look at indentations found in human skin and compare those marks to plaster molds taken of the teeth of one or more suspects and if they match, used as evidence in court.