Animal Bites & Infections

Question 1

Bacteria involved often with animal bites

Answer 1

Capnocytophaga canimorsus - normal flora in cats and dogs
Pasteurella multocida - carried in nasopharynx of cats
MRSA - colonization in domestic animals

Question 2

Drug of choice for animal bites

Answer 2

oral antibiotic: amoxicillin-clavulanate

IV: ampicillin-sulbactam OR ceftriazone + metronidazole

Question 3

Cat-Scratch Disease: pathogen, symptoms, treatment

Answer 3

Bartonella henselae - gram(-), flagellated.
Symptoms: papule at inoculation site, fever, enlarged tender nodes
Treatment: (most cases resolve spontaneously), azithromycin for severe disease.

Question 4

Human Bites: pathogens, treatment

Answer 4

staph, strep, hepatitis viruses, HIV, HSV
oral antibiotic: amoxicillin-clavulanate
IV: ampicillin-sulbactam OR ceftriazone + metronidazole

Question 5

Rabies: pathogen, presentation, diagnosis, treatment

Answer 5

Rhabdovirus - enveloped, negative sense ss-RNA, bullet shaped.
Presentation: acute encephalitis
Diagnosis: stain brain fro Negri bodies
Treatment: immune globulin right on wound, vaccination

Question 6

Tetanus: pathogen, pathogenesis, symptoms, treatment.

Answer 6

Clostridium tetani - gram(+), spore-forming
Spores enter wound from soil, disseminate toxin that acts on CNS, blocks NT
Symptoms: painful muscular contractions
Treatment: immune globulin, booster shot, antibiotics, muscle relaxants.