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Journal of Clinical Microbiology logoLink to Journal of Clinical Microbiology
. 1978 Dec;8(6):667–672. doi: 10.1128/jcm.8.6.667-672.1978

Bacteriology of human and animal bite wounds.

E J Goldstein, D M Citron, B Wield, U Blachman, V L Sutter, T A Miller, S M Finegold
PMCID: PMC275321  PMID: 744798

Abstract

Seventy-three patients with bite wounds (16 patients with clenched-fist injuries, 18 with human bite wounds, and 39 with animal bites) were cultured aerobically and anaerobically. A total of 33 of 34 patients with human bites and clenched-fist injuries and 33 of 39 patients with animal bites had aerobic or facultative bacteria isolated from their wounds. A total of 224 strains of aerobic or facultative bacteria were isolated, the most frequent isolate being alpha-hemolytic streptococci (50 strains). Staphylococcus aureus was isolated from 18 wounds. Penicillin-resistant gram-negative rods were infrequently isolated (12 strains). Anaerobic bacteria were isolated in 18 of 34 human bite wounds and clenched-fist injuries and 16 of 39 animal bite wounds. A total of 88 anaerobic strains was isolated, the most common being various Bacteroides species (36 strains).

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Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

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