My husband got bitten by a dog

[havsulen]

The skin is punctured in five places, relatively deep in 3 of them (not scratches).

We've cleaned the wounds and covered in bandages.

He got a tetanus shot 9 years ago.

We're sceptical of vaccines, our kids are not vaccinated. But now some family members are freaking out about us not getting a tetanus shot. Would you worry?

What would you do?

[PlayaMama]

i think you should find out if tetanus hangs out in dog saliva.

eta- just checked, it looks like it does. if your dh previously had the vax then i'm not sure why you would want to avoid it?

[Mittsy]

 What were the circumstances which the bite happened?

Is it bleeding? The tetanus bacteria can't live in a oxygen rich enviroment, so if it's bleeding I wouldn't worry. I would be more worried about rabies. Was the dog acting strangely? Has the dog had a recent rabies shot/booster/titer?

[Ldavis24]

I would definitely be worried about rabies IF the dog was behaving bizarrely for the bite happened in a weird circumstance, ie the dog just randomly jumped and bit your husband without provocation...Easily checked though to see if dog is UTD on shots..Other than that I wouldn't even worry about tetanus really...

[havsulen]

The dog has had shots for rabies, and was not behaving bizarrely. It's the dog of someone we know, and it happened when my husband wanted to move him from inside to outside (the dogs knows us well, so we have dealt with him before no problem. I mean - he is used to my husband dealing with him). The owners are considering whether they have to put the dog down now, so this is a bit difficult...

The wounds are bleeding. Should we put on loose band aids on that keep the oxygen coming through? Now, we have antiseptic cream on band aids that are quite tight.

[Ldavis24]

Originally Posted by havsulen 

The dog has had shots for rabies, and was not behaving bizarrely. It's the dog of someone we know, and it happened when my husband wanted to move him from inside to outside (the dogs knows us well, so we have dealt with him before no problem. I mean - he is used to my husband dealing with him). The owners are considering whether they have to put the dog down now, so this is a bit difficult...

The wounds are bleeding. Should we put on loose band aids on that keep the oxygen coming through? Now, we have antiseptic cream on band aids that are quite tight.

that IS tough...a tough situation for everyone involved. 

I'm no expert in the whole wound care thing, if they are bleeding A LOT, I would just put enough pressure on them to staunch the ble. eding otherwise loosely bandage and change it daily...

Rabies is not an issue and I wouldn't really worry about the tetanus since the wounds are bleeding, as a PP pointed out tetanus can't survive in an oxygen rich environment and blood is certainly that.

[ammiga]

I'd encourage bleeding and rinse with hydrogen peroxide. I wouldn't slather on a thick cream and cover with a bandaid, as that limits exposure to oxygen.

I believe the tetanus vax is only suggested every 10 years, so your DH is utd on that.