Médor’s Kiss
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I will call on Drs. Aaron E. Carroll and Rachel C. Vreeman for arbitration. These good practitioners explain that old studies on the question have shown that wounds from human bites are more prone to infection than those caused by dogs. That finding has led people to think that an individual’s mouth harbors more bacteria than that of Pollux. Two reasons, said those authors, counter that position.
Firstly, according to these doctors, bacteria living in a dog’s mouth are species-specific. People are more vulnerable to infections caused by human bacteria. As for dogs, it is the opposite phenomenon, state Carroll and Vreeman.
Elsewhere, in an article from the TV show 20/20, Marty Becker, creator of the book “Chicken Soup for the Dog Owner’s Soul” reminds us that those explorers do raid the trash can and, what is more, give each other little kisses elsewhere than on the mouth, namely on the rear end. On top of that, doggies also lick their wounds. Still not convinced? In a November 3, 2005 article on the site eSante.fr, veterinarian Anne Pensis warns that “Tetanus is also caused by a bacterium that dogs and cats can transmit via a deep wound (bites, claws).” Furthermore, “salmonella, Yersinia and campylobacter bacteria induce contagious digestive troubles in our dogs and cats.” For good measure, consider also these excerpts from the ezine Fetch from the site denverpost.com: “Healthday cited the case of a 69-year-old man, whose dog slept under the covers with him and licked his hip replacement wound, and came down with meningitis. Another incident: A 9-year-old boy got the plague from sleeping with his flea-infested cat.
Other infections transmitted to people after sleeping with their cat or dog, kissing them or being licked by the pet include hookworm, ringworm, roundworm, cat scratch disease and drug-resistant staph infections, the report says.”
Carroll and Vreeman’s second argument is based on the fact that all depends on how the wound was inflicted. Most wounds caused by a person’s bite heal with no problem, they write. –Sources are mute regarding that detail in the case of the famous boxer who tried to eat his opponent alive, starting with an ear–. The only circumstance where the risk of infection is high, add the authors, is that of a blow landing directly on the teeth, and here, it is not only in boxing arenas. The reason is not so much the teeth’s state of hygiene but rather the strength and the mechanical process of the action. In all other occurrences, it seems, of people-induced bite wounds, infection risks are the same as in dog bites.
However, do not go and hit the neighbor’s dog with a right hook, only for the sake of verification.
Frantz P.
