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. 2000 Dec;321(7276):1561-3.
doi: 10.1136/bmj.321.7276.1561.

Barking mad? another lunatic hypothesis bites the dust

S Chapman  1 , S Morrell
Affiliations

Barking mad? another lunatic hypothesis bites the dust

S Chapman et al. BMJ. 2000 Dec.

Abstract

Objective: To assess whether dog bites requiring hospital admission occur more at the full moon.

Design: Review of dates of admission for dog bites to accident and emergency departments, June 1997 to June 1998, compared with dates of the full moon.

Setting: All public hospitals in Australia.

Main outcome measures: Admissions for dog bites.

Results: 12 peak clusters of admissions were unrelated to the time of the full moon.

Conclusion: Dog bites are no more frequent on full moons than at any other time of the month. Sceptics rejoice.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Daily admissions to hospital for dog bites, Australia, 13 June 1997 to 12 June 1998, and occurrence of full moon
Figure 2
Figure 2
Mean daily admissions to hospital for dog bites, Australia, 13 June 1997 to 12 June 1998, by day of week (and with number of full moons occurring on each day during the study period), according to whether there was a full moon
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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