Epidemiology of Dog Bites to People in Uruguay (2010-2020)

Background: Dog bites to people are a serious public health problem. Limited information exists at the country level in Latin America. The COVID-19 pandemic changed people's lifestyles and their relationship with pets, and this could potentially affect the incidence of dog bites injuries.

Objective: The main objectives of our study were to determine the prevalence of dog-bite injuries in Uruguay from 2010 to 2020 and to compare the prevalence in 2020 to that of pre-pandemic years.

Methods: Cross-sectional study. Dog-bite notifications for the 2010 and 2020 period were analysed using data from the Uruguayan Ministry of Public Health.

Results: The annual dog-bite injury rate for the 2010-2020 period was 87.51 per 100,000 people. The frequency of bites varied with the victims' sex, with males accounting for 51.8% of the bites (p < 0.0001), and with age, with a higher frequency of bites in the ≤14 years old age group (p < 0.01). The frequency of dog bites was also higher in spring and summer than in autumn (p < 0.0001). There was no statistical difference in the frequency of dog-bite injuries when comparing 2020 with the pre-COVID-19 pandemic years.

Conclusions: In Uruguay, the frequency of dog-bite injuries varied with season and with the age and sex of the victim. In the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of people bitten by dogs was no different than that of previous years. This is the first study in Latin America to report national rather than regional data and to include all age groups.