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Bites - human and animal - Management
What follow-up is needed for someone who has had a human bite?
- This follow-up advice only applies to people who have not been referred to hospital (i.e. are being managed in primary care).
- If the bite wound is not infected — advise the person to check for signs of infection and if these develop to attend urgently for review.
- If the wound is infected — review at 24 and 48 hours to ensure the infection is responding to treatment. Advise the person to attend urgently for review if the infection worsens or if they feel increasingly unwell.
- For follow-up of people who are at high risk of a blood-borne virus see Managing risk of a viral infection.
Basis for recommendation
- These recommendations are based on pragmatic advice and expert opinion from the Health Protection Agency [HPA, 2005b].
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