Tuesday January 6 6:41 PM EST
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| NEW YORK (Reuters) -- Dog bites are a major
cause of injury in the United States, affecting more than 4 million people each year,
according to researchers. A study reported this week in The Journal of the American Medical Association says more than 900 dog bite injuries are treated in US emergency departments each day, and each year 20 people die due to a dog bite. Researchers from the University of Pittsburgh's Center for Injury Research and Control studied 1992-1994 national health statistics and data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta, Georgia. They note that males are more likely than females to get bitten. And more children than adults are likely to receive bites to the head, face, and neck. Victim age is a major factor. Dog bites tend to occur among children and adolescents, with the highest rate in boys between the ages of 5 to 9 years old. According to the researchers, almost half of all children in the US have at some time been bitten by a dog. The authors say dog bites account for a large chunk of healthcare expenditures. Emergency room services for dog bites cost about $102.4 million per year, with an average hospital payment per injury of $274. "Considering the risk to large parts of the population, especially to children, it is necessary that effective preventive strategies be developed and applied to reduce the painful and costly burden of dog bites," the authors state. They advise further study, and "enhanced and coordinated" dog bite reporting systems to collect more information on the problem. "Particularly for the more severe episodes, information needs to be obtained regarding high-risk situations, high-risk dogs, and what leads to successful preventive interventions." The authors say an estimated one third of American households own a dog but that even the domesticated dog still "retains many of its wild instincts, including behaviors that all too often lead to human attacks." SOURCE: The Journal of the American Medical Association (1998;279:51-53) |