Journal Information
Vol. 19. Issue 1.
Pages 50-58 (January - February 2005)
Vol. 19. Issue 1.
Pages 50-58 (January - February 2005)
Revisión
Open Access
Aspectos epidemiológicos de las mordeduras caninas
Epidemiological aspects of dog bites
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Jorge Palacioa,
Corresponding author
jpalacio@unizar.es

Correspondencia: Jorge Palacio. Facultad de Ciencias. Experimentales y de la Salud. Universidad Cardenal Herrera-CEU. Edificio Seminario, s/n. 46113 Moncada. Valencia. España.
, Marta Leóna, Sylvia García-Belenguerb
a Departamento de Medicina y Cirugía Animal. Facultad de Ciencias Experimentales y de la Salud. Universidad Cardenal Herrera-CEU. Moncada. Valencia. España
b Departamento de Patología Animal. Facultad de Veterinaria. Universidad de Zaragoza. Zaragoza. España
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Resumen

Las mordeduras de animales a personas suponen un importante problema de salud pública. Dentro de éstas, las más frecuentes son las producidas por perros. Un primer paso necesario en la prevención de este tipo de accidentes es conocer los factores de riesgo implicados.

El presente trabajo revisa la bibliografía más relevante en cuanto a la incidencia, los factores de riesgo y la prevención de las mordeduras de perros en personas. Así, según las características de las víctimas, se revisan determinados aspectos, como la edad, el sexo, la localización y la gravedad de las lesiones. En relación con los perros agresores, se describen las razas implicadas y el historial previo del animal. Igualmente, se describen los contextos en que se producen las mordeduras, en relación con la fecha, el número de perros, los lugares más frecuentes, la relación e interacción víctima-perro y la participación de las distintas categorías de agresividad del etograma canino.

En el último apartado se recogen las recomendaciones más habituales halladas en la bibliografía para prevenir y reducir la incidencia de mordeduras sobre la población general.

Palabras clave:
Perro
Mordedura de perro
Rabia
Agresividad
Estudios epidemiológicos
Factores de riesgo
Salud pública
Comportamiento animal
Abstract

Animal bites in humans are an important public health problem. Most of these bites are dog bites. The first step in preventing this kind of accident is to identify the associated risk factors.

The present article reviews the most important published articles on the incidence of dog bites, their risk factors, and preventive measures. Concerning victim profiles, features such as age, sex, location, and the severity of the wounds are reviewed. Regarding dogs, the most frequent breeds involved and the dog’s previous history of aggression are described. In addition, the different contexts in which bites occur are reported. Thus, factors such as dates, number of dogs, places, victim-dog relationship and interaction, and the distinct involved categories of aggression of the canine ethogram are reviewed.

The most frequent recommendations found in the literature to reduce and prevent dog bites in the human population are also described.

Key words:
Dog
Dog bite
Rabies
Aggression
Epidemiological studies
Risk factors
Public health
Animal behavior
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