dog bite - what should i do>?

[chutneymary]

Hello

My dd1 aged 3.5 has been itten by a dog this afternoon. It's not bad ut the skin has been broken. Do I need to get her a tetanus or anything? Tried nhs direct but website not working properly.

TIA.

If her tetanus isn't up to date she will need one. Poor her

Oh dear. She had the 2, 3 and 4 month jabs at the right ages but nothing since then. Do I need to do it urgently? I am guessing that I do.

Thanks for getting back to me.

get tetanus to be sure. she will prob be ok but best get it looked at and have you considered putting in a complaint if it was unprovoked?

Thanks Bethoo - it was her fault really. The dog was tied up minding its own business and she went to pat it. I am not good with animals generally and always tell her to stay away unless it belongs to someone we know as not all dogs and cats like to be patted etc, but she forgot today. Sadly she got to him before I could stop her. It's not a bad bite but I think a trip for her booster sooner rather than later would be a good idea.

Tetanus is worried about lots by medics but it's extremely rare to find it in a dog bite wound. Much more common is bacterial infection which can potentially become very severe, particularly as often it is the hand which is involved and obviously there are important structures which can be affected, and the blood supply isn't great there so normal immune defences and healing can be compromised.

Please make sure the wound is kept clean and monitor it very closely for any redness or swelling or excessive pain around the site. These are indications of infection and warrant fairly urgent attention.

Don't mean to worry you but GPs in particular (IME) are not great at dealing with these.

I would phone your gp surgery in the morning just to check. See here for info re tetanus NHS

I had a dog bite a few weeks ago so can sympathise with your dd. Mine was quite deep so had to see the practice nurse for a dtp shot as I hadn't had one for over ten years.
She also emphasised how important it is to flush out the wound and clean it very carefully but I'm sure you will have done that already.

Thanks so much. I did give it a good wash and she also had a bath about an hour later, but will phone the surgery tomorrow and see if the nurse can slot her in. NHS website now working and can see that the main problem would seem to be infection, so I'll keep my eyes peeled.

Thanks for the responses - much appreciated

If it broke the skin, then she'll probably need antibiotics to counter the manky germs that dogs carry.

Tetanus is less of a concern if she's up to date with all of her jabs and boosters.

Whereabouts has she been bitten? If its on a joint or deep then it may need cleaning out properly.

A&E or a minor injuries unit should be able to help you best.