leg bite and infection/amputation

[vindemiatrix]

So, in SSS, I have a character who (while locked in a filthy cell) is bitten very badly on the leg by something with a jaw the size of a baby alligator. Eventually, they will have to have it amputated, but at the moment I need to know how long before any infection shows and how long it would take for the infection to progress so badly that the leg below the knee would have to go.

Basically, this event is controlling my time-frame at the moment; the amputation occurs only after the character's been taken hostage, but the bite occurs while he's still in the cell. How long he spends in the cell post-bite will correspond to the spread of the infection and when I can be bothered pulling him out of there.

No trying to guess which one it is, those who have read it. :D

[Sulis]

I don't think it would take too long for the infection to show. After all, if you've ever had an infected scratch, it's kind of red and puffy even just the next day. I'd guess that if it's still red and nasty 2 days after the bite occurred (because there will probably be some redness right after the injury) then they'll decide it's infected. Of course, it depends on how often he sees his jailers, whether the wound is infected immediately, or if the infection sets in after a few days of poor care, that sort of thing. Really, you could probably drag it out as long as you needed to, if you've got a specific timeline you'd prefer.

As for how long the infection would progress, unfortunately, that I don't know.

[vindemiatrix]

The wound is infected from the point of the bite. What's biting him is NASTY. Also, there are two others in the cell with him (well, three, but one is mostly unconscious), so jailers isn't an issue, especially since the actual jailers aren't what you'd call sentient and the person keeping them imprisoned doesn't really care if one of them dies. It's just that for plot purposes, the amputation needs to come after he's been taken hostage and the others have been set free, but the infection does come from that bite.

[dedoublya]

ask a doctor

[vindemiatrix]

ask a doctor

I asked my aunt. She's a nurse. :D

[Elski]

Give my own experience with infections, it'll be very obvious it's infected within two or three days. If it's bad, the pain/reddess will start radiating up his leg in about a week, I think, at which point it will become obvious the infection is serious.

Keep in mind I'm extrapolating from experience with ear infections/minorly infected cuts.