Box Jellyfish deaths off Koh Samui

[fountainhall]

It's some years since overseas media started commenting on the appearance of box jellyfish of Thailand's southern coasts due it is thought to the warming of the oceans - although little appeared locally. Today The Nation reports the death of a 20-year old German woman on Tuesday evening as a result of jellyfish stings off Koh Samui. That makes 3 deaths in the last 14 months on that part of the coast.

The earlier reports suggested that the number of these jellyfish in Thai waters has been under reported as they did not include the numbers caught in fishermen's nets. As far as I recall, the best temporary measure after being stung is to daub white vinegar on the sting and then get to hospital fast.

[Nirish guy]

Courtesy of the UK NHS website ( don't bother with the vinegar it seems anymore)

Jellyfish Stings
Most jellyfish stings are mild and don't require treatment, or you can treat them yourself.
However, dial 999 if there are severe symptoms, such as difficulty breathing or chest pain, or if a large or sensitive area of the body such as the face or genitals has been stung.
Someone stung by a jellyfish should be treated out of the water.
Any remaining tentacles should be removed using tweezers or a clean stick (wear gloves if they're available). Applying an ice pack to the affected area helps to reduce pain and inflammation.
Vinegar is no longer recommended for treating jellyfish stings, because it may make things worse, by activating unfired stinging cells. The use of other substances, such as alcohol and baking soda, should also be avoided.
Ignore any advice you may have heard about urinating on the sting. It's unlikely to help and may make the situation worse.
Use a razor blade, credit card or shell to remove any nematocysts (small poisonous sacs) that are stuck to the skin. It may help to apply a small amount of shaving cream to the affected area first.

[fountainhall]

Sorry but that comment really confuses readers. First, the UK site gives general recommendations relating to all jellyfish types with just one exception, the Portuguese man-of-war. No specifics re the oceans' most deadly toxic creature, no doubt because Australian box jellyfish, the ones off Thailand, are never seen off any European waters. Europe in fact has its own box jellyfish but it is a very different creature to the one in Australian waters. It is not lethal and is far less dangerous to humans than its Australian cousin.

Besides, that UK recommendation is based on very doubtful and dodgy research. I place a great deal more faith in the Australian governmentтАЩs health site as these little buggers actually appear regularly off their coasts. That advice is very clear тАУ use vinegar. Same advice from the American Heart Association and the American Red Cross. Lifeguards in Australia are still instructed to use vinegar.

The research that the UK site seems to believe is that done by an Associate Professor at James Cook University in Australia and reported in The Australian last year. Its findings have been questioned by hoards of specialist scientists. Angel Yanagihara, jellyfish venom expert and research professor at the University of Hawaii, stated


тАЬ I find the paper questionable on many levels, from its methodology to the conclusionsтАЭ
She particularly found fault with the use of electric shock to stimulate venom discharge.


тАЬElectrocuted tentacles in a lab environment donтАЩt have a parallel in the real world. They offer no evidence, nor is there any from anywhere else, that this [model] bears any relationship to an actual sting eventтАЭ
http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/scien ... hnsb9ZLf0B (http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/science-sushi/2014/04/09/stop-using-vinegar-treat-box-jelly-stings-yet-venom-experts-weigh-recent-study/#.Vhnsb9ZLf0B)

Scientists were especially concerned that the Cook study actually тАЬconfirms that vinegar does inhibit the discharge of undischarged nematocysts.тАЭ Yet this was never mentioned in the media reports!

I for one will continue to take a small bottle of vinegar with me to the beach until a study officially endorsed by the vast majority of specialist scientists comes up with very detailed research to prove otherwise.

[corky]

I am told by a friend that has lived in Koh Samui for over 10 years that there are signs on Lamai Beach warning about the jellyfish.
If this is the case then the victim holds a degree of culpability for her demise.

[francois]

Say it ain't so corky! Does that mean every car driver who dies in an accident is culpable of their demise simply by driving in a car? That sounds like those crazy American politicians who blame gun shot victims for not standing up to the gunman who shot them.

[Nirish guy]

Thank you for the correction Fountainhall, I and the British NHS stand corrected, vinegar away there to your hearts content it seems chaps.

[arsenal]

Very useful advice I'm sure. Except that I can't recall ever carrying vinegar around with me. Perhaps the best place to be stung is the British seaside with their plethora of fish 'n' chip shops along the seafront. :))

[Nirish guy]

Or certainly plenty of yobs and winos about who'd piss on you even if you DIDN'T need them to ( I'm just back from 5 days in Blackpool - OMG !! it'll take me a year to get over the trauma of how shit it was !)

[Forky123]

Blackpool should be renamed Cesspool, though that could be defamatory to Cess Pools. I think people going to the beach in Thailand expect to swim. I don't think there's any fault here. It's simply one of those, luckily extremely rare, things that happen.

[Jellybean]

Or certainly plenty of yobs and winos about who'd piss on you even if you DIDN'T need them to ( I'm just back from 5 days in Blackpool - OMG !! it'll take me a year to get over the trauma of how shit it was !)
Ahhh . . . now, if only youтАЩd spoken to me first NIrish, I could have told you all about the weekend from hell I spent in Blackpool 16 years ago and all the distress it caused, nay, is still causing me. I could have spared you all the years that youтАЩll undoubtedly have to spend lying on a psychiatristтАЩs couch trying to erase the emotional and psychological trauma that resulted from the extraordinarily stressful events that a 5 day trip to Blackpool entails.

Hey by the way NIrish! Did you happen to see many lesbians while you were there? There was one club we went to; well, IтАЩve never seen so many lesbians in all my life. I thought weтАЩd stumbled on a lesbian convention of some sort, they unnumbered us gay chaps by at least twenty to one! So, little chance of picking up a bit of trade for the night. Just as well we were staying at some sleazy B&B where the house rules stated that for the maximum benefit of the true gay Blackpool experience, all bedroom doors must be kept unlocked at night. :))


I for one will continue to take a small bottle of vinegar with me to the beach . . .
Well, that's good to know fountainhall. If I ever fancy some fish and chips while at a Thai beach resort, youтАЩd certainly be a great asset to have around. I can just picture the scene now:

тАШere Founty old sport! Would you mind passing the vinegar, thereтАЩs a good chap. Cheers!

=))

[arsenal]

My tale of Blackpool woe beats anything you've got. I went to see Little and Large live with tickets given away free by Blackpool Pleasure Beach. Toe curling doesn't begin to cover it.

[Jellybean]

Hmmm . . . Little & Large you say arsenal. Poo to that I say! ThatтАЩs nothing compared with what we endured, nay, suffered . . .

[cue music]

. . . den-den-DEN. . .

. . . the Chuckle Brothers!

Actually, thatтАЩs not true, itтАЩs a figment of a very vivid imagination. I just had to come up with something far worse than Little & Large.

So yes, I concede, you definitely win the top prize, a stick of Blackpool rock. Ha! Bet you wish you hadnтАЩt trumped me now, eh, eh?

:ymparty:

[fountainhall]

тАШere Founty old sport! Would you mind passing the vinegar, thereтАЩs a good chap. Cheers!
=))
And you'd be most welcome. But as I carry it in two miniature bottles of Absolut you'd only get a little, certainly only enough for one small portion. I'd just hope no one rummages through my bag and swipes them expecting a nice vodka martini later!