Vinegar simple answer to killer jellyfish sting

Press, 28 December 1979, Page 12

Vinegar simple answer to killer jellyfish sting

A chance discovery has shown vinegar to be a highly effective first-aid treatment for attacks by the only known lethal jellyfish in the world — the box jellyfish of the northwest Pacific. For almost 20 years, victims of the jellyfish — one of the most feared and mysterious of all tropical ocean killers —have been using methylated spirits, unaware that instead of destroying the tentacles it has been triggering them.

Dr Robert Hartwick, a lecturer in marine biology at the James Cook University in Townsville, north Queensland, has found vinegar “freezes” the sting within 10 to 15 seconds. Dr Hartwick, who stud-

led at the Scripps Institute of Oceanography in California, has been' researching the life style of the elusive box jellyfish (Chironex fleckeri) " in Great Barrier Reef waters for the last three years. He has been trying to predict accurately the movement of the jellyfish to find a method of eradication or control, and so that swimmers can be warned of their likely presence.

In the last 100 years the box jellyfish has caused at least 40 deaths in tropical Australian waters. A harmless-looking almost transparent creature, whose delicate trailing tentacles carry a poison so powerful it can stop a human heart within a few minutes, Chironex fleckeri

is the only known lethal jellyfish in the world. It is prevalent in northern Australia, throughout South-East Asia as far as the Philippines, and in the tropical western Pacific region.

Since 1884. when marine scientific records were first kept in Australia, there have been reports of agonising “stinger” deaths in shallow tropical waters. The first positive identification was not made until 20 years ago when two Australian doctors matched broken tentacles still clinging to a voting boy’s body with those of a box jellyfish caught soon after a fatal attack on him in waters around Cairns, north Queensland. A large box jellyfish

may hat e up to 65 tentacles, each four metres (13ft) long. Thousands of tiny harpoon-like stinging cells shoot a small hollow thread of poison into the skin of a victim, like a hypodermic needle. Dr Hartwick’s chance discovery came when he poured methylated spirits over a bowl of discarded tentacle pieces — the standard laboratory procedure (and recommended first-aid treatment) to kill the. stinging cells.

“Out of curiosity I decided to watch what was happening under the microscope," he said. "To my amazement 1 saw an immense discharge of the stinging cells.”

Dr Hartwick joined forces with the Townsville doctors who had wide experience with box jellyfish stings. They began stinging themselves, under controlled conditions, with small pieces of live tentacles and then testing about 40 substances, including commonly-used household products and traditional first-aid treatments.

Dr Hartwick found that acetic acid — the main ingredient of household vinegar — did a “spectacularly good job,” even better than formalin, the classic tissue fixative. "Within 10 to 15 seconds of being doused with vinegar, a live tentacle is rendered inactive,” he said. “Vinegar is ideal because it is cheap and readily available. Every family can carry a bottle to the beach.” Dr Hartwick said it was not yet known why vinegar destroyed the tentacles, or why it had not been realised earlier that methylated spirits was ineffective. "I can only conclude that no-one had looked at the tentacles in methylated spirits under a microscope,” he said. Dr Hartwick said it now was believed that a lot of the serious stinging in box jellyfish attacks probably took place after the victim left the water — when he was flailing about on the beach in pain, trying to rip the tentacles off his body. The effect, of this would be to trigger the stinging cells into “bombarding” the victim. The new recommended treatment would be to pour (not rub) vinegar over the sting, restrain the victim from touching the painful area, apply resuscitation, and inject antivenene if required.

Dr Hartwick said the laboratory results first must be proved in the field.

For these final tests, a team of volunteer doctors, including one of Australia’s foremost experts on box jellyfish stings, Dr Jack Barnes of Cairns, lifesavers and scientists, have been recruited. They will allow themselves to be stung in the sea and will then undergo first-aid treatment with vinegar and other substances. Medical specialists will then evaluate the results. — Australian Information Service.