What to do for bites

Bites

For Bites
Signs & Symptoms
Swelling. Redness. Pain. Itching.
Bleeding.
Tissue loss, if the wound is severe.
Skin rash. With Lyme disease, a red bull's eye rash with a white center around the bite occurs. Fatigue, fever, and joint pain may also occur.
Lockjaw. This is a painful, persistent stiffness of the jaw due to a toxin. Tetanus shots can prevent this. (See Immunization Schedule.)
Allergic reaction, such as with insect bites. (See Signs & Symptoms of Allergies.)

Causes
Dog, cat, and human bites are the most common animal bites in the U.S.
Black widow and brown recluse spider bites can cause severe reactions.
Deer tick bites can cause Lyme disease, a bacterial infection.
Less common, but more dangerous, are bites from skunks, raccoons, bats, and other animals that live in the wild. These animals can have rabies. This is a serious viral infection. It can be fatal. Most house pets are vaccinated for rabies. It's unlikely they carry the virus.
Deer tick on scalp.
Mosquito bites can cause West Nile virus if the mosquito is infected with it.
Snake bites can be fatal if the bite is from a poisonous snake (e.g., rattlesnakes, cotton mouths, copperheads, and coral snakes).
Shark bites are a potential problem when swimming in shark-infested waters.



Treatment
Self-care can be used for dog and cat bites that cause scratches on the skin and for insect bites that do not cause a severe allergic reaction. All human bites that break the skin should be checked by a doctor due to the high risk for infection. A series of rabies shots can prevent the spread of rabies to humans. The shots should begin soon after a bite from an infected animal. Antivenom can be given for poisonous snake bites at