Chicago Accident Lawyer Blog
Chicago dog bite lawyers, Zneimer & Zneimer, P.C. are not surprised by a study by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), an agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, found that the number of people admitted to hospitals for treatment for a dog bite increased 86 percent from 1993 to 2008. In 2008, there were a total of 82,518 dog bite-related visits to the emergency room for an average of 866 emergency room visits a day. An Average of 26 people per day were admitted to the hospital for treatment for their serious dog bite injuries.
According to the study, seniors and young children were the most likely groups to be admitted to the hospital, each with about 4 hospital stays per 100,000 people. Children are more likely to suffer head and facial injuries from dog bites since children’s heads are closer to the ground.
Alarmingly, the AHRQ study found that 43 percent of people hospitalized for dog bites required treatment for skin and underlying tissue infection. Anyone bit by a dog should seek immediate medical treatment, even if the bite seems minor given this very high rate of infection.
The Chicago dog bite lawyers of Zneimer & Zneimer P.C. have handled many dog bite cases involving skin and subcutaneous tissue infection, open wounds, lacerations, scars and disfigurement, broken bones and fractures. The Chicago dog bite lawyers of Zneimer & Zneimer P.C. have noted that a high percentage of our dog bite cases involve serious infections requiring hospitalization and administration of intravenous antibiotics.