Wound-licking dangers - Medical News From Around The World - Brief Article

Nutrition Health Review, Fall, 2002

GERMANY -- The New England. Journal of Medicine (April 25, 2002) published a letter describing a diabetic German man who was treated for a minor laceration and dislocation of the right thumb after a bicycle accident. He eventually lost part of the finger to amputation four weeks later after a severe infection.

A few days after he was first treated for the wound, he returned with a severe fever, a swollen hand, and elevated glucose levels. He was taken directly to surgery and given several antibiotics intravenously. He recovered from one infection after several days, but the distal phalanx of the right thumb had to be amputated despite attempts to save it.

The man recalled instinctively licking the wound immediately following the accident. Eikenella corrodens, a common pathogen found in bite wounds, was present in a swab of the patient's wound. It is commonly found together with streptococci after contact between a laceration and saliva and can cause septic arthritis, endocarditis, and abscesses in different organs.