Open AccessUsing Emergency Department Data to Conduct Dog and Animal Bite Surveillance in New York City, 2003–2006
Author(s) -
Brooke Bregman,
Sally Slavinski
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
public health reports
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.202
H-Index - 92
eISSN - 1468-2877
pISSN - 0033-3549
DOI - 10.1177/003335491212700208
Subject(s) - medicine , emergency department , animal bites , dog bite , medical emergency , disease surveillance , complaint , public health surveillance , environmental health , descriptive statistics , family medicine , emergency medicine , public health , veterinary medicine , epidemiology , rabies , psychiatry , pathology , statistics , mathematics , political science , law
Most animal bites in the United States are due to dogs, with approximately 4.7 million reports per year. Surveillance for dog and other animal bites requires a substantial investment of time and resources, and underreporting is common. We described the use and findings of electronic hospital emergency department (ED) chief complaint data to characterize patients and summarize trends in people treated for dog and other animal bites in New York City (NYC) EDs between 2003 and 2006.