Barking mad? Another lunatic hypothesis bites the dust

Objective To assess whether dog bites requiring hospital admission occur mo re 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 fu ll moon. Conclusion Dog bites are no more frequent on full moons than at any other t ime of the month. Sceptics rejoice.