What diseases do human bite wounds cause?

Doctor Nguyen Nhu Dien, Northern Medical Manager, VNVC Vaccination System, said that wounds caused by human bites are quite common, for example due to conflicts, collisions or children playing too much… Oral cavity Humans have the second largest microbiome after the intestines, containing more than 700 species of bacteria, so both the person biting and the person being bitten can be infected with the following diseases:

Hepatitis B

Hepatitis B virus often exists in the blood and body fluids of patients, including saliva. Even though the virus concentration in saliva is low, it is still possible to transmit it to the bitten person if an open wound is created. If the person biting has dental disease such as scratches, ulcers, gingivitis or bleeding gums, the possibility of transmitting the disease is higher.

Cellulitis

A study published in the journal Wounds, shows that human bites are more susceptible to infection than animal bites, the infection rate after being bitten by a human is 10-30%. The reason is that human saliva contains many anaerobic and aerobic bacteria such as group A hemolytic streptococci such as Streptococcus pyogenes, Staphylococcus aureus – Staphylococcus aureus, Fusobacterium, Prevotella, Peptostreptococcus, Veillonella…

Manifestations of infection from human bites include pain, erythema, swelling, pus discharge, lymphangitis, and fever. As in the case of a 49-year-old man in Nam Dinh who suffered from cellulitis one day after being bitten on the left by a 3-year-old child, causing swelling, redness, fluid discharge and a high fever of 39.5 degrees Celsius, he was transferred to China. Poison Control Center, Bach Mai Hospital (Hanoi) for treatment in April 2024. Human bite wounds also carry a risk of deep soft tissue infection, tendinitis, septic arthritis, and osteomyelitis.

Syphilis

In addition to being transmitted mainly through sexual intercourse, the syphilis bacteria Treponema pallidum is also transmitted through saliva through kissing, biting, oral sex… When pathogens enter a healthy person’s body, they will multiply, then spread to many locations in the body causing fever, swollen lymph nodes, headache, sore throat, and multiple organ failure when not treated promptly.

Virus herpes

The herpes virus, in addition to being commonly transmitted sexually, also spreads from person to person through many different methods, including human bites. There are two main types of herpes simplex virus: HSV-1 and HSV-2. Among them, type HSV-1 mainly causes oral herpes, characterized by cold sores appearing on the lips, around the mouth or on the patient’s face. When bitten by an infected person, a healthy person can transmit the disease through contact with herpes secretions, or through saliva or other secretions.

Tetanus

Tetanus bacillus lives and exists in anaerobic environments such as soil, sand, soil, fertilizers, and daily living items such as scissors, knives, and rusty needles. They will easily enter the body through even a very small wound, leading to hypertonia, muscle spasms, respiratory failure, and high mortality from 10-90%.

Meanwhile, wounds caused by human bites that cause scratches and bleeding can create conditions for tetanus bacteria to enter and attack the nervous system, causing disease. Therefore, when a wound occurs, people need to clean it and go to a medical facility to be examined, treated, treated, or given a tetanus injection or serum when needed.

How to prevent

Dr. Dien said the person who was bitten needs to wash the wound under clean running water, keep the damaged area clean and go to a medical facility for vaccination advice. People should not self-treat or cover wounds with folk remedies, leaves, etc., which can cause wound infection and complications.

Some diseases such as hepatitis B and tetanus have vaccines to prevent them. Among them, there are many types of hepatitis B for children and adults including Heberbiovac HB (Cuba) and Gene Hbvax (Vietnam), Twinrix (Belgium) to prevent hepatitis A and B in one injection; Combined vaccine has hepatitis B components such as 5 in 1, 6 in 1 for children.

There are also many types of tetanus vaccines including single and combined tetanus shots such as tetanus – diphtheria adsorbed, diphtheria – pertussis – tetanus, which can be actively vaccinated or injected when there is an open wound.