Human bite
If a patient has been bitten by a human and the bite has broken skin, we direct them to a clinician on the same day. This is to assess and clean the wound, but also to check whether post-exposure blood tests are required for blood borne diseases eg hepatitis B, hepatitis C and HIV.
Rabies
Rabies is a viral disease that is transmitted through mammals. In the UK, the rabies virus is only found in some bats so is considered a very uncommon risk if patients have not travelled outside UK.
Tetanus
Tetanus is a life-threatening condition caused by a bacteria, often due to contamination from soil or manure. This bacteria has to enter the bloodstream to cause infection and this is most commonly through an open wound eg an animal bite or stepping on a dirty nail. Tetanus is part of the vaccination schedule in the UK so the question regarding tetanus is important for patients who have not had their booster ie their last dose of tetanus vaccine was more than 10 years ago. The tetanus vaccine cannot be given in Primary Care so we direct patients to Urgent Care to receive this.