| bites | Penetration of the skin (puncture or laceration) causing reactions that result from 1) mechanical injury; 2) injection of toxic material such as snake or scorpion venom; 3) injection of antigenic substance, especially by insect or arthropod bites, capable of inducing and eliciting allergic sensitization; 4) introduction of otherwise saprophytic flora such as Staphylococcus pyogenes in the instance of human bites; 5) invasion of the tissue as in myiasis; 6) transmission of disease such as typhus and rabies. Depending on the nature of the material propelled into the puncture of the skin and, in the case of antigenic material, on the previous exposure and immunity of the host, the local reaction will be immediate or delayed, accompanied by varying degrees of pain, itching and burning, and systemic manifestations specific for the offending agent. Origin: see bite (05 Mar 2000) |
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| bites, human | Bites inflicted by humans. (12 Dec 1998) |
| snake bites | Bites by snakes. The condition of having been bitten by a venomous snake, characterised by stinging pain at the wound puncture. The venom injected at the site of the bite is capable of producing a deleterious effect on the blood or on the nervous system. (12 Dec 1998) |
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| insect bites and stings | Bites and stings inflicted by insects. (12 Dec 1998) |