Human bites in the classroom: incidence, treatment, and complications

It has been estimated that at least one half of the population will experience some type of bite in their lifetime. Human bites are the third leading cause of all bites seen in hospital emergency departments after dog and cat bites. Human bites can be the source of exposure to body fluids, transmission of communicable diseases, infections ranging from cellulitis to osteomyelitis, and joint deformity from septic arthritis. Approximately 10-15% of human bites will become infected. In the school setting, a teacher or other staff member can sustain a human bite while trying to protect a student from injury. Often the first responder to this type of incident is the school nurse. The role of the school nurse is to promote early reporting, accurate history taking of the time and mechanism of injury, administering immediate wound care, initiating early referrals to appropriate medical providers, and supporting proactive care in the form of adult hepatitis B immunization.