Cargando…

Impact of Stinging Jellyfish Proliferations along South Italian Coasts: Human Health Hazards, Treatment and Social Costs

Stinging jellyfish outbreaks represent a health hazard, causing contact dermatitis and systemic reactions. This study investigated the epidemiology, severity, and treatment protocols of jellyfish stings in a coastal area with high tourist development and frequent stinging jellyfish outbreaks of the...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: De Donno, Antonella, Idolo, Adele, Bagordo, Francesco, Grassi, Tiziana, Leomanni, Alessandro, Serio, Francesca, Guido, Marcello, Canitano, Mariarita, Zampardi, Serena, Boero, Ferdinando, Piraino, Stefano
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2014
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3986988/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24583831
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph110302488
_version_ 1782311806853709824
author De Donno, Antonella
Idolo, Adele
Bagordo, Francesco
Grassi, Tiziana
Leomanni, Alessandro
Serio, Francesca
Guido, Marcello
Canitano, Mariarita
Zampardi, Serena
Boero, Ferdinando
Piraino, Stefano
author_facet De Donno, Antonella
Idolo, Adele
Bagordo, Francesco
Grassi, Tiziana
Leomanni, Alessandro
Serio, Francesca
Guido, Marcello
Canitano, Mariarita
Zampardi, Serena
Boero, Ferdinando
Piraino, Stefano
author_sort De Donno, Antonella
collection PubMed
description Stinging jellyfish outbreaks represent a health hazard, causing contact dermatitis and systemic reactions. This study investigated the epidemiology, severity, and treatment protocols of jellyfish stings in a coastal area with high tourist development and frequent stinging jellyfish outbreaks of the central Mediterranean (Salento, Southern Italy), and the associated costs for the Italian National Health Service. In 2007–2011, 1,733 bathers (mostly children and females) sought medical assistance following jellyfish stings, the main cause of human pathologies due to contact with marine organisms. The majority of events were reported in the years 2007–2009, whereas the occurrence of cnidarian jellyfish outbreaks has been increasingly reported in the same area since summer 2010. Most symptoms were limited to local and cutaneous reactions; conversely, 8.7% of cases evoked complications, mainly due to allergic reactions. The main drugs used were corticosteroids, locally applied and systemic (46% and 43%, respectively), and with ammonia (74%) as the main non-pharmacological treatment. The estimated cost of jellyfish-related first-aid services along the Salento coastline over the 5-year period was approximately 400,000 Euros. Therefore the management of jellyfish outbreak phenomena need coordinated research efforts towards a better understanding of underlying ecological mechanisms, together with the adoption of effective prevention policy, mitigation strategies, and appropriate planning of health services at tourist hot spots.
format Online
Article
Text
id pubmed-3986988
institution National Center for Biotechnology Information
language English
publishDate 2014
publisher MDPI
record_format MEDLINE/PubMed
spelling pubmed-39869882014-04-15 Impact of Stinging Jellyfish Proliferations along South Italian Coasts: Human Health Hazards, Treatment and Social Costs De Donno, Antonella Idolo, Adele Bagordo, Francesco Grassi, Tiziana Leomanni, Alessandro Serio, Francesca Guido, Marcello Canitano, Mariarita Zampardi, Serena Boero, Ferdinando Piraino, Stefano Int J Environ Res Public Health Article Stinging jellyfish outbreaks represent a health hazard, causing contact dermatitis and systemic reactions. This study investigated the epidemiology, severity, and treatment protocols of jellyfish stings in a coastal area with high tourist development and frequent stinging jellyfish outbreaks of the central Mediterranean (Salento, Southern Italy), and the associated costs for the Italian National Health Service. In 2007–2011, 1,733 bathers (mostly children and females) sought medical assistance following jellyfish stings, the main cause of human pathologies due to contact with marine organisms. The majority of events were reported in the years 2007–2009, whereas the occurrence of cnidarian jellyfish outbreaks has been increasingly reported in the same area since summer 2010. Most symptoms were limited to local and cutaneous reactions; conversely, 8.7% of cases evoked complications, mainly due to allergic reactions. The main drugs used were corticosteroids, locally applied and systemic (46% and 43%, respectively), and with ammonia (74%) as the main non-pharmacological treatment. The estimated cost of jellyfish-related first-aid services along the Salento coastline over the 5-year period was approximately 400,000 Euros. Therefore the management of jellyfish outbreak phenomena need coordinated research efforts towards a better understanding of underlying ecological mechanisms, together with the adoption of effective prevention policy, mitigation strategies, and appropriate planning of health services at tourist hot spots. MDPI 2014-02-27 2014-03 /pmc/articles/PMC3986988/ /pubmed/24583831 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph110302488 Text en © 2014 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. 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 Article
De Donno, Antonella
Idolo, Adele
Bagordo, Francesco
Grassi, Tiziana
Leomanni, Alessandro
Serio, Francesca
Guido, Marcello
Canitano, Mariarita
Zampardi, Serena
Boero, Ferdinando
Piraino, Stefano
Impact of Stinging Jellyfish Proliferations along South Italian Coasts: Human Health Hazards, Treatment and Social Costs
title Impact of Stinging Jellyfish Proliferations along South Italian Coasts: Human Health Hazards, Treatment and Social Costs
title_full Impact of Stinging Jellyfish Proliferations along South Italian Coasts: Human Health Hazards, Treatment and Social Costs
title_fullStr Impact of Stinging Jellyfish Proliferations along South Italian Coasts: Human Health Hazards, Treatment and Social Costs
title_full_unstemmed Impact of Stinging Jellyfish Proliferations along South Italian Coasts: Human Health Hazards, Treatment and Social Costs
title_short Impact of Stinging Jellyfish Proliferations along South Italian Coasts: Human Health Hazards, Treatment and Social Costs
title_sort impact of stinging jellyfish proliferations along south italian coasts: human health hazards, treatment and social costs
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3986988/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24583831
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph110302488
work_keys_str_mv AT dedonnoantonella impactofstingingjellyfishproliferationsalongsouthitaliancoastshumanhealthhazardstreatmentandsocialcosts
AT idoloadele impactofstingingjellyfishproliferationsalongsouthitaliancoastshumanhealthhazardstreatmentandsocialcosts
AT bagordofrancesco impactofstingingjellyfishproliferationsalongsouthitaliancoastshumanhealthhazardstreatmentandsocialcosts
AT grassitiziana impactofstingingjellyfishproliferationsalongsouthitaliancoastshumanhealthhazardstreatmentandsocialcosts
AT leomannialessandro impactofstingingjellyfishproliferationsalongsouthitaliancoastshumanhealthhazardstreatmentandsocialcosts
AT seriofrancesca impactofstingingjellyfishproliferationsalongsouthitaliancoastshumanhealthhazardstreatmentandsocialcosts
AT guidomarcello impactofstingingjellyfishproliferationsalongsouthitaliancoastshumanhealthhazardstreatmentandsocialcosts
AT canitanomariarita impactofstingingjellyfishproliferationsalongsouthitaliancoastshumanhealthhazardstreatmentandsocialcosts
AT zampardiserena impactofstingingjellyfishproliferationsalongsouthitaliancoastshumanhealthhazardstreatmentandsocialcosts
AT boeroferdinando impactofstingingjellyfishproliferationsalongsouthitaliancoastshumanhealthhazardstreatmentandsocialcosts
AT pirainostefano impactofstingingjellyfishproliferationsalongsouthitaliancoastshumanhealthhazardstreatmentandsocialcosts