Introduction:

Dog bites mainly affect patients in pediatric ages. They pose dangers such as esthetic sequels and the implicit possibility of transmission of the rabies virus to human beings.

Objective:

Characterize the clinical-epidemiological behavior of dog bites in children.

Methods:

An observational longitudinal prospective study was conducted of patients diagnosed with dog bite requiring passive and active immunization admitted to the Miscellany Service of Antonio María Béguez César South Children's Hospital in Santiago de Cuba from 1 January 2017 to 31 December 2018.

Results:

Among the patients included in the study there was a predominance of the male sex (57.7%). The age groups 1 to 5 years 11 months and 29 days and 6 to 10 years 11 months and 29 days showed the greatest incidence. Though no statistical association was found between anatomical location of the injuries and age, bites on the lower limbs were the most common at all ages with 63 patients (40.4%). Outstanding complications were cellulitis, bone lesions and esthetic sequels. No child had rabies infection. In 50% of the cases the bite occurred in the night hours. Most of the attacks were performed by dogs from other households.

Conclusions:

Dog bite diagnosis was more common among male children aged one year and over. Most bites occurred in the night hours. The main complication was cellulitis.

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