Epidemiological study on children victims of dog bite in Campinas

There is little information dog bite related trauma epidemiology in Brazil even though this is a frequent trauma in Emergency Unit and the most important cause for rabies transmission in humans. Most of the dog bites and the costs of its attendances and hospitalizations could be avoided through educative and preventive actions. We investigated how type of injury, bite location, age of the victim, dog's breed and the attacking dog correlate in a developing country. This study suggests that younger children are at high risk for injuries, the majority are bites on head, accidentally motivated by housed, healthy and familiar dogs. Educational awareness of people about the risk of dog bites and rabies is necessary. Parental education and supervision are the most important action to prevent severe dog bite injuries.