Swedish Tourist Narrowly Avoids Death From Box Jellyfish Sting

[stingertale]

Actually, the Aftonbladet never said it was a box jellyfish, only a stinger they said. It is unlikely it was a box jellyfish because the Swedish fireman who gave the young girl CPR removed the tentacles with his bare hands and had it been a box jellyfish he would have gotten bad burns himself, which he didn't.

It is more likely to have been a Portuguese Man of War.

Thank you for clearing that up.

An earlier poster's comparison with calculated risks and flying is clearly rubbish as has been pointed out - with every flight we are taken through a safety process preparing us for that incredibly rare instance of the plane falling out of the sky. In South East Asia it is thought that around 200 are killed by box jellyfish every year. Around the world 4 or 5 are killed by sharks. No need to compare anything - a life is a life.

Talk about making statistics up! 200 people die a year of jellyfish stings in SEA!!

You have far more chance of being attacked by a drunk Swede in a Koh Mak bar than you have of a jellyfish. So perhaps the bar owners there display warning signs about that!

It's a rubbery figure that's for sure but it comes from Dr Jamie Seymour who is a box jellyfish specialist/marine biologist at James Cook University in Cairns, Australia. It's apparently based on an extensive study conducted by doctors Williamson and Fenner through the region in the 1980s and ongoing but sporadic reports from the region. I am told that in the Philippines there are anywhere up to 50 deaths a year, Indonesia is another place with a lot of people and jellyfish - I saw something recently that mentioned 3 deaths in 6 weeks around Java recently - while of course Thailand, Malaysia, Vietnam, Cambodia, New Guinea and East Timor must make up the numbers the expert has come up with.

I don't think they're just made up but fair point.

[neverdie]

I totally agree with manarak. Putting signs up warning of the dangers of box jellyfish would be completely disproportionate. If there is one fatality every 3 - 4 years, set against the number of swimmers in Thai waters over the same period, the risk factor is statistically so low as to be not worth consideration. It would be more relevant, statistically, to have big warning signs at the entrances to airports, saying

"Caution! This plane may fall out of the sky and kill you!"

We all know that. It's a calculated risk every time we fly.

Same as we all (should) know that there are some not very nice things in the sea that can harm us. It's weighing risk against what we want to do. Alarmist warning signs aren't going to help anybody. Do you suggest, philconnors, that everybody should give up swimming in the sea because one unfortunate child got stung? Get real. If we all adopted your approach to life, nobody would do anything. Life would come to a standstill.

If I had a business on that beach, I'd be one of the first to tear down any misleadingly alarmist signs that threatened to destroy my livelihood.

I would like to preempt the following with one little caveat. I LOVE to swim, kayak, surf and dive. No, I am not hydrophobic.

Australian does this ALL THE TIME. They have signs warning people about the consequences of getting in the water. Whether it be crocs, sharks or marine stingers, thay have a sign for them. They don't hold back from warning the public. At that point the public is an INFORMED PUBLIC not an ignorant public. Also, the public then assumes all risk for getting into the water.

WELL SAID. Yes Australia does, we warn our tourists about the Croc's and the

Box Jelly Fish and many other things where appropriate. Theres a MORAL OBLIGATION, not to mention litigation if we do NOT.

Warn the people and then let them decide.

The difference here, as in alot of parts of asia (& other places) LIFE IS CHEAP!

I hope this girl survives without Brain Damage, shes going to need all the strenghth in the world to deal with the scarring these box jelly fish leave behind.

[lovelomsak]

First i would like to say Ihope the young girl recovers with few or no complications from this.

About 12 years ago we were in Hua Hin and a friend dived in the water,when he came up there was jellyfish above him. He got stung badly on his upper body and was rushed to hospital . He survived but had a lot of pain for a day or so. He didnot blame anyone or anything. He saw it simply as the risk of being in the water simple as that. He was right.

[craigt3365]

First i would like to say Ihope the young girl recovers with few or no complications from this.

About 12 years ago we were in Hua Hin and a friend dived in the water,when he came up there was jellyfish above him. He got stung badly on his upper body and was rushed to hospital . He survived but had a lot of pain for a day or so. He didnot blame anyone or anything. He saw it simply as the risk of being in the water simple as that. He was right.

Good point. It is not just the deaths that are important, but also the ones who are only injured. I am sure the numbers for the later are much higher. Thus warranting at least a sign warning of the jelly fish. I know I would appreciate that sign. If only so it reminded me to be careful.

[manarak]

I know about the jellyfish.

I knew it before coming to Thailand the first time.

I also know about the snakes, scorpions and centipedes.

I know that in the ocean, there are not only dangerous jellyfish, but also water snakes, certain fishes with stings, etc.

Why do I know?

Because I am father of 2 little children and I inform myself about potential dangers of places where I take them.

But we still go swim in the ocean and still go into the jungle.

I never forget that these environments are WILDLIFE environments. Not hotel swimming pools or Nong Nooch gardens.

So in the sea, I try to look around and mostly visit places where other people (i.e. cannon fodder) already swim.

The box jellyfish is the sea animal that scares the shit out of me - I hate these jelly things, they are almost invisible in the water and can kill someone in addition of having that disgusting appearance and texture.

In the jungle, we make lots of noise, because snakes don't like that, except one or two aggressive species who are not afraid of humans.

Now...

Imagine what will happen if there are signs around: Warning - Danger: Jellyfish, Stonefish, Snakes, Scorpions, Centipedes ...

What will happen?

Probably nothing. Some stupid tourists will maybe chose another beach where no signs have been put up.

All will still expose themselves to the same dangers.

So what is the actual use of these signs?

Edited March 9, 2010 by manarak

[TAWP]

If you fail to see the use of warning signs for most tourists then us telling you that there is a point will not educate you on the subject.

But alas, I shall try: There is a point in having warning signs as 1) in many tourists home countries it is the norm 2) most tourists shouldn't and cannot be expected to know the seasoning of jello fishes and other animals on each particular beach. Unless you proclaim that their tour-guides of course has this info? As if...

[manarak]

from another thread:

This happen in Koh Phangan in August 2002:

Australian dies from jellyfish stings

August 21 2002

An Australian man has died from multiple stings by a toxic jellyfish near a popular backpacker resort on a southern Thai island.

Sean Tyrrell, 25, was pronounced dead on arrival at the Ban Don Inter-clinic on Koh Phangan island after being stung in the late afternoon of August 9, a spokeswoman at the clinic said.

Mr Tyrrell, from Victoria, was stung while swimming at Koh Phangan's Hat Rin beach, popular with backpacker travellers for regular full moon rave parties.

Officials said he suffered terrible pain from the stings which left large welt marks on his legs.

"The long tentacles wrapped around his legs three or four times each. It would have been an excruciating death," an official said.

Officials and the hospital spokeswoman said they were unaware of the species of jellyfish which caused the deaths.

Australia has warned travellers to the resort island 650km south of Bangkok to "exercise extreme caution" when swimming.

Two days after Mr Tyrrell's death, a Moroccan woman died at the nearby Koh Samui hospital after being stung while also swimming at Koh Phangan Island.

Thai police stationed on the island have since been handing out leaflets warning visitors against swimming, especially in the latter part of the day and early evening.

But officials said many of the travellers were disregarding the warnings.

"There is a general culture on the island that all is OK," one official said.

Australia's Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade issued a warning last week advising Australians to "exercise extreme care" about the safety of swimming in particular locations on the island.

"Due to the uncertainty about the species and toxicity of the jellyfish that caused the deaths, swimmers, snorkellers, and divers are advised to leave the water if jellyfish are spotted," DFAT said in the notice.

The deaths have surprised the diving community, with southern Thailand one of the most popular locations for deep sea diving in South East Asia, especially during the peak season of November through to March.

But the country is presently in the grip of the rainy monsoon season, with the waters clouded from river silt and evidence of jellyfish along many beaches in the southern provinces.

Tony Green, managing director of Phuket-based H2O Sports said the deaths were unheard of.

"We take a lot of divers and had people stung. But from our experience those are minor. We have never heard of or seen a potential lethal jellyfish," Mr Green said.

from :smh.com.au/articles/2002/08/20/1029114105350.html

I would be in favor of distributing a leaflet to all incoming tourists, together with the immigration arrival cards, warning about all the dangers:

- sexual hazards

- scams

- dangerous wildlife

- narcotics laws

[Old Man River]

Very tragic, and I wish the young girl a speedy recovery. Where would one draw the line on signage though?. You would have warnings about snakes, spiders, scorpions, monitor lizzards, rats, the list goes on. Perhaps maybe something highlighting that there has been sightings of box jellyfish and give year and season, but the other creatures I mentioned are there 24/7 all year round.

I was in Hua Hin a few weeks ago and the Hyatt did have warning signs that jellyfish were known to be in the area and that swimmers were swimming at their own risk. After reading this, we all were aware that this threat existed. Parents then could make informed decisions about their children swimming in the ocean.

The TAT needs to do a much better job in making sure similar signs are well displayed.

[AleG]

Very unfortunate for the girl. Glad she's recovering. What an awful end for a vacation.

Do the box jellyfish have natural enemies? What do scientists know about their lifestyle/habits? Perhaps areas of the sea right up close to popular beaches have a boat that passes back and forth to screen out (with a net) the offending jellyfish. Such a boat would likely catch a lot of trash also.

Sea turtles eat mostly jellyfish. They also eat things that look like jellyfish and many die with stomachs full of plastic bags.

Also as mentioned, jellyfish thrive in nutrient rich and murky (AKA polluted) waters, so people, do your part to keep jellyfish at bay and don't throw garbage in the sea.

[tw25rw]

Box jellies tend to be more of a wet season problem because of their life cycle.

Turtles and some fish eat them, but they breed in huge numbers, so they'll always be back given the right conditions. They also hunt visually and actively hunt, so would normally avoid predators. But when they are hunting with their tentacles out trawling the shallows, accidental meetings will happen. They are quite different to most jellyfish in this sense.

[stiggy]

I also got stung and spent several days in hospital (ICU) just over 4 years ago, in the Gulf of Thailand.I have covered the incident on another thread on here some time ago.

My Business relies heavily on people feeling safe in the water, so do I

A Pretend there is no problem as if I tell them they will run away.

B Give sound information that they do exist here and like myself you may get unlucky, ( these bstds can and do kill)

Simply put B Customers do expect to be informed, and I as a responsible person have the duty of care to inform people of the risks. This is particularly true for parents as their kids often spend hours in the sea and don’t know what to look out for.

Have I lost any business not at all ! in fact many customers stay and spend more as they feel safe in our hands and respect that we care for them.

It’s a rare event but does happen, also if everyone keeps there head up there ar** about this no study gets undertaken to determine if there is a season etc.

It did not destroy tourism in Australia when they finally admitted there was a problem it won’t do here either.

Edited March 9, 2010 by stiggy

[Changian]

The Doc from the Min of Public Health in Bangkok and a team from Rayong are on Koh Mak today meeting with local officials and also going on a jellyfish hunt to see what species are out there off the beaches. Here they are heading off - not sure if they are back yet . . .

[Jerrytheyoung]

For your information, one lady died on a very frequented malaysian beach around 3 weeks ago due to Jelly fish...

From seamen having a long experience, the first action (if you do not have vinegar) is to pi on the burnt parts as the poison is "Base" and you need an acid to neutralise. Vinegar is the best, lemon can be used....

Instead to put only warnings everywhere which are not efficient alone, I suggest:

1. Local Administrations in charge of the frequented beaches (source of incomes for their cities) should invest in "Nets" to protect at least one area

2- First aid measures (vinegar, lemon, "pi"....) should be publicised regularly in local newspapers so that all local people do know the first things to do....