- Here’s a reminder why you should go see a doctor when anything bites you.
There are plenty of creatures out there that you really don’t want biting you. The list includes snakes, spiders, bats, lions, crocodiles — and humans.
Why humans? That’s because human bites can be incredibly dangerous, as this unfortunate Turkish shopkeeper found out.
Two masked robbers broke into a small store owned by the bite victim. He managed to wrestle one of them to the ground, but he let the burglar go after he sank his teeth into the shopkeeper’s hand.
The shopkeep visited a hospital, and he was sent home. Within days, his condition plummeted as his hand swelled up and he became feverish and delirious.
He had developed such a violent infection that the doctors seemed unable to cure it. As a last resort, they tried an unusual oxygen therapy to kill the rampant bacteria.
Luckily, the unorthodox treatment worked and killed off the infection. Although he needed an extensive recovery period, the man eventually regained full use of his arm and hand.
With this story in mind, is it any wonder that scientists determined that humans could become venomous?
A Bitey Burglar
The events that led to the already happened in early 2024. The story only recently broke into the mainstream after a case study of the shopkeeper’s ordeal was published in a medical journal.
The 60-year-old shopkeeper in question has only been identified as Mr. N.U. He runs a small shop in the Uskudar district on the east side of Istanbul.
One night, after N.U. had already closed his store and was doing the last chores of the day, two robbers in ski masks suddenly burst in through the door. They immediately started shouting threats and wrecking the place to intimidate the shopkeeper into handing over the cash register.
Although he might be getting on in years, N.U. wasn’t about to let the rapscallions do as they pleased. He fought back and successfully pressed one of the burglars to the ground.
Desperate moments call for desperate measures, however. As the robber realized he couldn’t free himself any other way, he bit down on the back of N.U.’s left hand — and he bit down hard.
N.U. hadn’t prepared for that, and he released the robber. Both burglars ran off, leaving N.U. in peace with a deep, bleeding bite wound on his hand.
Here Comes Necrosis
After the tussle, N.U. went to the local hospital to get the bite checked out. The doctors didn’t seem particularly concerned, as the bite hadn’t damaged any bones or nerves, and they told N.U. to go home.
However, human mouths are crawling with bacteria and the foul-mouthed burglar had introduced something nasty into N.U.’s hand. Within days, the shopkeeper got very sick.
At first, he developed a high fever. A couple of days later, he started experiencing tremors and seizures.
And then his hand and arm began to swell. By the time he returned to the hospital, N.U.’s hand and arm had ballooned to twice their size and the skin around his bite wound was turning black.
Well, that’s an infected, necrotic wound right there.
Oxygen Saves
The doctors, realizing their initial diagnosis had been horrendously wrong, started working immediately to treat N.U.’s potentially fatal condition. However, they soon discovered they had their work cut out for them.
For two weeks, the doctors tried one medication and treatment after another — but nothing worked. Meanwhile, the infection and necrosis kept spreading and N.U. was deteriorating.
Desperate to save his life if nothing else, the medical staff started talking about amputating the entire arm. As a last-ditch resort, however, somebody suggested trying hyperbaric oxygen therapy.
In this treatment, the patient is enclosed in a high-pressure chamber filled with oxygen. The pressure forces more oxygen into the damaged tissues, aerating them and helping them heal faster.
Oxygen therapy can be effective against certain types of infections, but typically not for what N.U. was experiencing. Yet, if they were already planning to chop his arm off, it was worth trying.
Fortunately for N.U., the oxygen treatment worked almost like a charm. Within just a couple of days, the infection began receding, and his limb shrank down to its normal proportions.
That gave surgeons an opportunity to remove all the dead tissue from the wound. N.U.’s life and arm had been saved.
That said, an experience this harrowing severely damaged the shopkeeper’s nerves. He required several months of treatment and physical therapy, but he is now able to use his hand and arm like before.
He does sport a nasty scar on the back of his hand, though.
We Are Filthy Beings
After the case study was published, N.U.’s horrible story made a few headlines. Turkish doctors took this chance to remind the public that bite wounds should always get properly inspected — especially those from human bites.
You should heed their warning, too. Believe it or not, human bites are more likely to get infected than those from most animals.
That’s because human mouths are — quite frankly — absolutely disgusting. There are more than 700 types of bacteria that can live in the human mouth. Our saliva has a bizarrely high concentration of dangerous, microscopic forms of life in it, even in comparison to most living creatures.
Additionally, each person has a different mix of those 700 bacteria — some more, some less. All of us carry a uniquely gross-tastic and infectious stew of filth between our teeth.
That puts us very high on the list of creatures you really don’t want biting you. So, if you get caught in the jaws of your fellow man, go to the hospital.