Get your health question answered instantly from our pool of 18000+ doctors from over 80 specialties
159 Doctors Online

By proceeding, I accept the Terms and Conditions

Dr. Andrew Rynne
MD
Dr. Andrew Rynne

Family Physician

Exp 50 years

HCM Blog Instant Access to Doctors
HCM BlogQuestions Answered
HCM Blog Satisfaction

I Am A 70-year-old Woman With A Mechanical Mitral Valve.

I am a 70-year-old woman with a mechanical mitral valve.
I understand that this puts me at increased risk of contracting Infective Endocartis.
I have a serious concern about whether bacteria entering my blood stream through a head wound inflicted by a bird of prey, could put me at even greater risk of contracting Infective Endocartis.
There is a family of Red-Shouldered Hawks that have a nest in a tree on my property.
At least one of the hawks is very aggressive and attacks humans in my yard. He attacks the head -- from both the front and behind.
I have been attacked by the hawk on several occasions -- both this year and last year.
So far, the attacks on my head have been "body slams" by the bird, but when the same hawk attacked my sister, he broke the skin of her scalp, and even left behind a tiny piece of his talon which we inspected with a powerful photographic lupe.
I would like to have the hawks relocated, but I would have to present strong evidence that the attacks on me represent more of a threat to my health and safety than they do to people without artificial heart valves.
I know for a fact that these hawks carry dead things in their talons all the time. I can see them. They are especially fond of landing on mole hills in my yard and waiting for the mole to die, and then flying off with the dead moles in their talons.
How can I find out whether bacteria entering my blood stream from the hawk's talons could put me at risk of contracting Infective Endocartis or some other condition because of my artificial heart valve?
posted on Thu, 7 Apr 2016
Twitter