Wounds delivered to people through contact with humans, animals, and insects. Bites and stings can be minor or serious. Medical treatment should be sought if the person bitten develops swelling, redness, or pus or has not had a tetanus shot in 10 years, or if the wound requires stitches.
Potentially dangerous bites and stings can be delivered by pets, wild animals, snakes, spiders, scorpions, ticks, bees, wasps, jellyfish, and humans. Bites and stings can be minor or serious. Minor bites are those in which the skin is broken but not torn, with limited bleeding, while serious bites can result in deep puncture wounds, badly torn skin, and persistent bleeding. Both minor and serious bites may become infected, causing swelling, redness, pain, and pus draining from the wound. Certain diseases such as rabies can be transmitted through bites and scratches, causing such symptoms as fever, headache, and flulike symptoms and can progress to coma and death.
Animal bites are best treated as puncture wounds and simply washed and dressed. In some cases antibiotics may be given to minimise the risk of infection, together with tetanus toxoid if appropriate. Should rabies be a possibility, then further treatment must be considered. Bites and stings of venomous reptiles, amphibians, scorpions, snakes, spiders, insects and fish may result in clinical effects characteristic of that particular poisoning. In some cases specific antivenoms may be administered to reduce morbidity and mortality.