What should I do if my hand is scratched by a puppy's teeth and bleeds?

Being scratched and bleeding by a puppy's teeth may seem like a trivial matter, but if it is not handled properly, it can cause inflammation of the wound and slow healing at best, or cause rabies and threaten human life. After being scratched by a puppy's teeth, be sure to clean the wound, squeeze the surrounding soft tissue, disinfect it with alcohol or iodine, and get a rabies vaccine.

1. Clean the wound

Whether it is a mad dog or a normal dog, the wound should be rinsed immediately on the spot with plenty of clean water (more than 10,000 ml). If conditions permit, it is best to rinse repeatedly with 20% soapy water or 0.1% benzalkonium bromide, usually for about half an hour, and then rinse with clean water to wash away the saliva and blood containing the virus. It should be noted that you should not just rinse it carelessly, apply some mercurochrome, bandage the wound and then go to the hospital. This is absolutely wrong.

2. Squeeze surrounding soft tissue

The wounds caused by dog ​​bites are often small on the outside and deep on the inside, which requires that the wound be enlarged as much as possible during flushing, and the surrounding soft tissues be squeezed forcefully to try to flush away the dog saliva and blood on the wound.

3. Disinfection with alcohol or iodine

After flushing, immediately wipe the inside and outside of the wound with alcohol or iodine to kill the rabies virus as much as possible. If the wound is bleeding excessively, try to apply a tourniquet immediately and then rush to the hospital for emergency treatment. Remember: Never bandage the wound yourself or wrap it tightly. Try to leave the wound exposed.

4. Get rabies vaccine within 48 hours

Rabies is also known as hydrophobia, so it is correct to use the above method of washing with water after being bitten by a dog. However, washing with water alone cannot prevent yourself from contracting rabies. You must go to the hospital for vaccination. The incubation period of rabies is generally 10 days to several years. For the sake of your own life and health, once you are bitten by a dog, you must go to the hospital as soon as possible to get an injection of rabies drugs, and you must get the required number of injections before you can stop getting injections. You cannot stop going after a few injections just because you feel that you have no problem. You must know that once the disease occurs, there is no chance to recover.