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Jellyfish Stings and Their Management: A Review
Jellyfish (cnidarians) have a worldwide distribution. Despite most being harmless, some species may cause local and also systemic reactions. Treatment of jellyfish envenomation is directed at: alleviating the local effects of venom, preventing further nematocyst discharges and controlling systemic r...
Autores principales: | , , , |
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Formato: | Online Artículo Texto |
Lenguaje: | English |
Publicado: |
MDPI
2013
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Materias: | |
Acceso en línea: | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3640396/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23434796 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/md11020523 |
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author | Cegolon, Luca Heymann, William C. Lange, John H. Mastrangelo, Giuseppe |
author_facet | Cegolon, Luca Heymann, William C. Lange, John H. Mastrangelo, Giuseppe |
author_sort | Cegolon, Luca |
collection | PubMed |
description | Jellyfish (cnidarians) have a worldwide distribution. Despite most being harmless, some species may cause local and also systemic reactions. Treatment of jellyfish envenomation is directed at: alleviating the local effects of venom, preventing further nematocyst discharges and controlling systemic reactions, including shock. In severe cases, the most important step is stabilizing and maintaining vital functions. With some differences between species, there seems to be evidence and consensus on oral/topical analgesics, hot water and ice packs as effective painkillers and on 30 s application of domestic vinegar (4%–6% acetic acid) to prevent further discharge of unfired nematocysts remaining on the skin. Conversely, alcohol, methylated spirits and fresh water should be carefully avoided, since they could massively discharge nematocysts; pressure immobilization bandaging should also be avoided, as laboratory studies show that it stimulates additional venom discharge from nematocysts. Most treatment approaches are presently founded on relatively weak evidence; therefore, further research (especially randomized clinical trials) is strongly recommended. Dissemination of appropriate treatment modalities should be deployed to better inform and educate those at risk. Adequate signage should be placed at beaches to notify tourists of the jellyfish risk. Swimmers in risky areas should wear protective equipment. |
format | Online Article Text |
id | pubmed-3640396 |
institution | National Center for Biotechnology Information |
language | English |
publishDate | 2013 |
publisher | MDPI |
record_format | MEDLINE/PubMed |
spelling | pubmed-36403962013-05-02 Jellyfish Stings and Their Management: A Review Cegolon, Luca Heymann, William C. Lange, John H. Mastrangelo, Giuseppe Mar Drugs Review Jellyfish (cnidarians) have a worldwide distribution. Despite most being harmless, some species may cause local and also systemic reactions. Treatment of jellyfish envenomation is directed at: alleviating the local effects of venom, preventing further nematocyst discharges and controlling systemic reactions, including shock. In severe cases, the most important step is stabilizing and maintaining vital functions. With some differences between species, there seems to be evidence and consensus on oral/topical analgesics, hot water and ice packs as effective painkillers and on 30 s application of domestic vinegar (4%–6% acetic acid) to prevent further discharge of unfired nematocysts remaining on the skin. Conversely, alcohol, methylated spirits and fresh water should be carefully avoided, since they could massively discharge nematocysts; pressure immobilization bandaging should also be avoided, as laboratory studies show that it stimulates additional venom discharge from nematocysts. Most treatment approaches are presently founded on relatively weak evidence; therefore, further research (especially randomized clinical trials) is strongly recommended. Dissemination of appropriate treatment modalities should be deployed to better inform and educate those at risk. Adequate signage should be placed at beaches to notify tourists of the jellyfish risk. Swimmers in risky areas should wear protective equipment. MDPI 2013-02-22 /pmc/articles/PMC3640396/ /pubmed/23434796 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/md11020523 Text en © 2013 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/). |
spellingShingle | Review Cegolon, Luca Heymann, William C. Lange, John H. Mastrangelo, Giuseppe Jellyfish Stings and Their Management: A Review |
title | Jellyfish Stings and Their Management: A Review |
title_full | Jellyfish Stings and Their Management: A Review |
title_fullStr | Jellyfish Stings and Their Management: A Review |
title_full_unstemmed | Jellyfish Stings and Their Management: A Review |
title_short | Jellyfish Stings and Their Management: A Review |
title_sort | jellyfish stings and their management: a review |
topic | Review |
url | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3640396/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23434796 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/md11020523 |
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