A sting by this Australian box jelly can lead to death in as little as 5 minutes. (credit: A Yanagihara)
By Marcie Grabowski, Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research, University of Hawaii
Being stung by a jellyfish is one of the fastest ways to ruin a fun day at the beach. But what you do after you’re stung has the potential to make you feel much better or make matters a lot worse. Researchers at the University of Hawai‘i – Mānoa (UHM) investigated whether commonly recommended first aid actions such as rinsing with seawater or scraping away tentacles lessen the severity of stings from two dangerous box jellyfish species. Their results, published this week in the journal Toxins, reveal that some of the most commonly recommended practices actually worsen stings.
“Anyone who Googles ‘how to treat a jellyfish sting’ will encounter authoritative web articles claiming the best thing to do is rinse the area with seawater, scrape away any remaining tentacles, and then treat the sting with ice,” said Dr. Angel Yanagihara, lead author of the paper and assistant research professor at the UHM Pacific Biosciences Research Center (PBRC) and John A. Burns School of Medicine (JABSOM). “We put those methods to the test in the lab, and found they actually make stings much, much worse.”
Box jellies are among the deadliest animals in the oceans, responsible for more deaths every year than sharks. Even mild stings cause severe pain and can leave horrible scars.
