Alton Street Surgery Patient Information Leaflet

First Aid – Animal Bites & Scratches

All animal bites can be contaminated with bacteria and, possibly, viruses such as rabies. Therefore all bites and scratches should be cleaned thoroughly as a matter of course

1. Gently scrub wound for five minutes.

Always use soap or detergent and running water

2. Remove any dirt, broken teeth or pieces of claw.

3. Rinse wound with plain water.

4. Thoroughly drench the wound with a disinfectant such as povidone or (0.01%) aqueous iodine or 40-70% alcohol (spirits contain 40% alcohol). Antiseptic lotion is better than nothing if that is all there is to hand.

5. If the incident happens in countries where rabies is endemic, you should consider the possibility that you have been exposed to rabies and get medical treatment as soon as possible. If antirabies vaccinations are given within two days of the bite occurring, rabies is almost always prevented.

This patient information leaflet has been adapted from an original published by Clinnix Pro, Synigence PLC