[Phlegmon of the fore arm succeeding to a dog-bite : respective role of the miscellaneous bacteria involved in this mixed infection (author's transl)].

The authors report a case of a severe mixed infection (phlegmon of the fore arm) succeeding to a dog bite. A complex flora has been isolated from this phlegmom : Pasteurella multocida, Pasteurella pneumotropica, Streptococcus mitis, Actinomyces sp., Bacteroides melaninogenicus, and a Gram- bacteria related to group II j. The pathogeny of such diseases is discussed, dwelling in one hand on the part of synergistic development of these various germs and in the other hand on the part played by saliva in the severity of animal or human bites. This kind of wound requires careful disinfection and radical debridment without omitting a preventive broad-spectrum antibiotherapy.