Treatment for bites

[carolr]

Hi everyone,

As you know my Dad is now in an EMI nursing home and whilst we have had a few worries on the whole we are ok with home and very happy with the staff looking after Dad.

However when we went to see Dad on Tues he had a bandage of his finger and we were told that he had been bitten bya another resident. Obviously this type of thing happens from time to time and the staff took Dad straight to the hospital for treatment, my concern is that in addition to a tentanus injection and a course of anti biotics Dad was given treatment against hepititus B, the home advised that this was normal with any human bite? Anybody heard of it, the other resident involved in this incident has a room directly accross from my Dad you can see where I am going with this cant you?

 

[jenniferpa]

I think a Hep B vaccination is not uncommon - I think the majority of people who have Hep B secrete it in their saliva so it would be possible to pass it on. Just as well to err on the side of safety.

I would be concerned though to find out what the home proposes to minimise another such incident.

 

[carolr]

Very difficult that one Jennifer, my Dad has had challenging behaviour and is therefore restricted at night to his room and the corridor outside the other man is the only other resident in this section of the home so they can meet at times in the corridor. The nurses station is close by and they both have pressure pads in their rooms to alert the staff when they get out of bed. The worry is that they meet when the night staff are tied up with another resident which is what happened on this occasion.

I hate the very thought of my Dad being contained in this way but this has been done to safeguard both him and the other residents. Dad says he is ok and indeed seems to be, he is eating well and sleeping better than he has for a long time.

The other resident is very ill very confused and very agressive he scares me to death when I meet him in the corridor but he is also someones husband and Dad just like mine. His language is very colourfull and my Dad hates bad language so that is probably what started the incident in the first place.

The staff at the home are super in the main but there is only so many of them and we must accept that these things happen I was concerned about the Hep B cos my Dad has more than his share of problems without adding to them.

 

[Nebiroth]

I think you will find that this is a normal preventative measure that is given to anyone who is bitten by someone else. The virus is only passed through bodily fluids - most commonly blood, but also through saliva. Obviously, if someone bites you, then there is a possibility they might be infected with hep-b and could have passed it on as it is very infectious.

It cannot be passed through "social contact" such as toilet seats or touching someone and the virus is killed by a hot wash and also by washing up liquids and hot water.

People who are likely to come into contact with infected blood, such as health workers, people who share a home with someone known to be infected, travellers to countries where the disease is common, are also routinely vaccinated.

The vaccination is highly effective, but for full protection you need a course of three plus a booster every five years.

I don;t think you have anything to worry about, but could always raise your concerns with the manager of the care home or your dad's GP.

NHS Direct has a section about it

http://www.nhsdirect.nhs.uk/articles/article.aspx?articleId=668&sectionId=1