animals Article Epidemiology of Dog Bite Incidents in Chile: Factors Related to the Patterns of Human-Dog Relationship Carmen Luz Barrios 1,2,*, Carlos Bustos-López 3, Carlos Pavletic 4,†, Alonso Parra 4,†, Macarena Vidal 2, Jonathan Bowen 5 and Jaume Fatjó 1 1 Cátedra Fundación Affinity Animales y Salud, Universitat Autónoma de Barcelona, Parque de Investigación Biomédica de Barcelona, C/Dr. Aiguader 88, 08003 Barcelona, Spain;
[email protected] 2 Escuela de Medicina Veterinaria, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Mayor, Camino La Pirámide 5750, Huechuraba, Región Metropolitana 8580745, Chile;
[email protected] 3 Departamento de Ciencias Básicas, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Santo Tomás, Av. Ejército Libertador 146, Santiago, Región Metropolitana 8320000, Chile;
[email protected] 4 Departamento de Zoonosis y Vectores, Ministerio de Salud, Enrique Mac Iver 541, Santiago, Región Metropolitana 8320064, Chile;
[email protected] (C.P.);
[email protected] (A.P.) 5 Queen Mother Hospital for Small Animals, Royal Veterinary College, Hawkshead Lane, North Mymms, Hertfordshire AL9 7TA, UK;
[email protected] * Correspondence:
[email protected]; Tel.: +56-02-3281000 † These authors contributed equally to this work. Simple Summary: Dog bites are a major public health problem throughout the world. The main consequences for human health include physical and psychological injuries of varying proportions, secondary infections, sequelae, risk of transmission of zoonoses and surgery, among others, which entail costs for the health system and those affected. The objective of this study was to characterize epidemiologically the incidents of bites in Chile and the patterns of human-dog relationship involved. The results showed that the main victims were adults, men.