Box Jellyfish Kills 9-year Old on Koh Phangan Beach

[PeterRS]

I remember first hearing about box jellyfish appearing off Phuket's west coast about 10 years ago. A tourist had died after being stung. The Thai media did not cover the story but the news media in other parts of Asia did. I remember something about fishermen having caught a few in their nets, and one reporter questioning if a few had been caught how many more remained uncaught in the waters.

Since then there have been other stories and other deaths, notably off Koh Samui. Koh Phangan has nets and warning signs about not playing in the water outside those areas. It also has bottles of vinegar which is the recommended initial treatment until getting an affected person quickly to hospital. The boy had been playing outside the area covered by nets. His father did use vinegar on the stings but his son died on the way to hospital.

From what I recall, the warming of the water around Thailand has led these lethal jellyfish to move north from their traditional habitat around Australia. 

https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/general/2173495/israeli-boy-dies-from-box-jellyfish-sting-on-koh-phangan

[a-447]

The box jellyfish can kill within 2 minutes as its venom causes the heart  to stop. Vinegar is no longer used to treat stings as research has shown it makes things worse - it increases the absorbency of the venom into the skin by up to 60 times! 

The only effective treatment is an anti-venom but by the time you make it to hospital you are well and truly dead.

I certainly wouldn't go swimming in the warm waters of the tropics, as the box jellyfish is just one of many deadly animals lurking in the water, especially  in Australia. 

[vinapu]

7 hours ago, a-447 said:

I certainly wouldn't go swimming in the warm waters of the tropics, as the box jellyfish is just one of many deadly animals lurking in the water, especially  in Australia. 

thank you for the warning but water in tropics is too wet anyways

[PeterRS]

12 hours ago, a-447 said:

The box jellyfish can kill within 2 minutes as its venom causes the heart  to stop. Vinegar is no longer used to treat stings as research has shown it makes things worse - it increases the absorbency of the venom into the skin by up to 60 times! 

I think your comment has been widely disproved. As far as I can see there is only one 2014 study in Australia that suggested vinegar might increase the amount of venom released into the skin. But that study has been widely debunked and its methodology seriously questioned. Every medical website I have currently checked still advocates the liberal use of vinegar after the creature's barbs have first been removed from the skin. This includes those from Australia where this particular genus of the box jellyfish found off Thailand originates. The websites include -

https://www.healthline.com/health/box-jellyfish-sting#first-aid

https://www.webmd.com/first-aid/jellyfish-stings-treatment

https://dermnetnz.org/topics/australian-box-jellyfish-stings/

The last one has this quote - "Once on shore, apply vinegar for at least 30 seconds after envenomation; this deactivates penetrating nematocysts. Many tropical Australian beaches contain vinegar stations with clearly marked bottles for public use in case of marine envenomation. (Vinegar is one of a few chemicals, including ethanol, known to cause massive toxin discharge in a research, in-vitro context but not in the rescue setting, where vinegar prevents further toxin discharge when applied to the skin.)"

Even the Queensland Government Department of Health's Ambulance Service website advises the use of vinegar -"immediately douse the string area with vinegar for at least 30 seconds."

https://www.ambulance.qld.gov.au/docs/QAS-Box-jellyfish.pdf

There are at least 51 species of box jellyfish around the world. Unfortunately it is the most dangerous of the bunch that lurks in the Indo-Pacific tropical regions. So if I hit a beach in this country, I will definitely have plenty of vinegar with me. Hopefully I'll reach it before my heart stops!