Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

Dog attacks: it's time for doctors to bite back

2007; BMJ; Volume: 334; Issue: 7590 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1136/bmj.39129.471505.94

0959-8138

Rachel Besser,

Traumatic Ocular and Foreign Body Injuries

views & Reviews T his year, like previous years, has seen a spate of coverage in the British media of maulings by dogs.The most recent available data from the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (www.rospa.co.uk) show that 70 000 people attended UK emergency departments in 2002 for injuries caused by dog bites.Many of these are attacks on children by the family pet and take place in the home (European Journal of Pediatrics 2003;162:254-8).Dog bites have become a public health concern and a child protection issue.As with many public health issues, however, individuals are reluctant to take responsibility and modify their behaviour.The medical profession is left to mop up the mess.Children are particularly vulnerable; one American study found that children under 5 were the age group most likely to have severe head and neck injuries (American Surgeon 1999;65:863-4).Undoubtedly, few people bitten by dogs die or are left with a profound disability.However, the number of people admitted to UK hospitals after being bitten by a dog is rising, despite a fall in dog ownership.Data collected by the Information Centre for Health and Social Care (www.hesonline.nhs.uk) show that 4133 patients were admitted to hospital in England in 2006 as a result of injuries from dog bites, almost double the number in 1996, and that 22% of these people were children under 9. Apart from the psychological and physical consequences (including infections) of dog bites, they result in unnecessary expense.It is clear that the 1991 Dangerous Dogs Act does not work.For a start, it does not cover the majority of bites that occur in the family home, and only 764 people were prosecuted under the act in 2005.Also, all dogs bite, not just the four breeds prohibited under the act (the pit bull terrier, Japanese tosa, Argentine dogo, and fila Brasileiro, including cross-breeds).Indeed, one study showed that the most common dog bites