ByDeborah Huso Apr 28th 2010 1:10PM
Categories: News Many people are amazed that 10-year-old Rachel Shardlow is alive. The Australian girl was swimming off the north coast of Queensland earlier this week when she was stung by an Australian box jellyfish -- believed to be the world's most venomous creature.
Shardlow's 13-year-old brother pulled her from the water, and she fell unconscious only moments later. Miraculously, she survived, her only apparent injuries being severe scarring on her leg (pictured below), caused by a combination of the jellyfish's harpoon-like tentacles and the highly lethal venom, as well as some short-term memory loss.
Because the sting of the box jellyfish is so painful and venomous, victims will often go into shock within minutes, and many die of heart failure before they can receive medical assistance. The box jellyfish's venom attacks the heart, nervous system and skin cells. Michael Watters, Ph.D., a marine neurotoxicology expert out of the University of Hawaii and a fellow of the American Academy of Neurology (AAN), says Australian box jellyfish stings have about a 20 percent mortality rate. The toxin the jellyfish release into the bloodstream essentially causes victims to lose muscle control, including respiration.
Stephen Epstein, M.D., an emergency physician at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston and a spokesman for the American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP), says one reason severe box jellyfish stings prove so deadly is because victims are stung in the water and are not able to get out of the water before they go into shock. "This is one creature you don't want to encounter in the wild," he says. "It can cause very rapid death."
Australian box jellyfish live primarily in the coastal waters off northern Australia and throughout the Indo-Pacific. They are most numerous during Australia's rainy season from November through April, and they tend to congregate near the mouths of rivers (which is where Shardlow was stung) and creeks. Often beaches are closed to swimmers during the rainy season, precisely because of the box jellyfish threat.
Jeffrey Sankoff, M.D., an emergency department physician at Denver Health Medical Center and also an ACEP member, has traveled in Australia a great deal. "This is the time of year when box jellyfish are most active," he says. "There are huge signs everywhere telling you to stay out of the water." Sankoff says that's one reason he's baffled as to what Shardlow was doing in the water in the first place.
The box jellyfish's transparent body is relatively small (measuring only inches in length), but its dozen or so tentacles can grow as long as 10 feet. The creature packs a powerful toxic punch, and there is anti-venom available, but getting access to it promptly is key. Emergency medical technicians in Australia have the anti-toxin in their ambulances, so if emergency assistance arrives right away, chances of survival are good.
There are no box jellyfish in the waters off the continental United States, but if you're traveling in the Indo-Pacific, be wary, and if you or someone you know should be stung, take action immediately. Emergency physicians recommend the following:
• Get the victim out of the water as quickly as possible
• Seek medical help immediately, as time and access to anti-toxin is everything in surviving an attack
• Flood the stings with vinegar, and be sure to soak the stung areas and the tentacles with vinegar and/or hot water for about 10 minutes before attempting to remove the tentacles
• Remove the tentacles with a tweezer or stick, and use gloves or a towel, as the darts on the ends of the tentacles likely still contain venom
• You can use a pressure dressing, like an ACE bandage, around sting areas on arms and legs (just be careful not to cut off blood flow), as this decreases the spread of the toxin
• If the victim stops breathing or isn't showing a pulse, administer CPR.
Re: Girl Rewrites Medical History, Survives Deadliest Jellyfish Sting
@ donia: rabies is fatal once it has reached the neurons in the brain. You could use rabies vaccine as a treatment too but that is before the virus has reached the brain. If a rabid canine has bitten at the periphery, the higher the chances of survival because it would take the virus a while to enter the brain. Rabies is a slow miserable death ... you can see videos of children with rabies on dailymotion with salive fuming from their mouth
Last edited by CosmicPathos; 04-29-2010 at 06:40 PM.
Help me to escape from this existence
I yearn for an answer... can you help me?
I'm drowning in a sea of abused visions and shattered dreams
In somnolent illusion... I'm paralyzed
Re: Girl Rewrites Medical History, Survives Deadliest Jellyfish Sting
will her leg have to be amputated? it looks dead
He it is Who sends blessings on you, as do His angels, that He may bring you out from the depths of Darkness into Light: and He is Full of Mercy to the Believers. [Quran {33:43}] www.QuranicAudio.com www.Quran.com
Re: Girl Rewrites Medical History, Survives Deadliest Jellyfish Sting
Im glad the girl survived. Jellyfishes are the scariest creatures out there!
And as for the onewho fears standing in front of His Lord and restrainsthe soul from impure evil desires and lusts, verily, Paradise will be his abode [79:40-41]
Re: Girl Rewrites Medical History, Survives Deadliest Jellyfish Sting
This is one of the reasons I don't like the sea. You don't know whats gonna bite your feet. I got stung by some weird fish too... I am not sure which one because it was dark and I only remember pulling some slimy tentacles of my ankles. Poison went to my stomach and I had difficulty breathing. It was horrible. My uncle had to rush me to the hospital. I thought I was gonna die lol.
Re: Girl Rewrites Medical History, Survives Deadliest Jellyfish Sting
format_quote Originally Posted by piXie
This is one of the reasons I don't like the sea. You don't know whats gonna bite your feet. I got stung by some weird fish too... I am not sure which one because it was dark and I only remember pulling some slimy tentacles of my ankles. Poison went to my stomach and I had difficulty breathing. It was horrible. My uncle had to rush me to the hospital. I thought I was gonna die lol.
I got stung by Jelly fish plenty but al7mdlillah never anything deadly.. I think it is best to wear a full body suit and amphibian shoes even as a little kid.. but still I think we only see what we are meant to see, clearly it wasn't time for this little girl to go..
Text without context is pretext If your opponent is of choleric temperament, seek to irritate him
Re: Girl Rewrites Medical History, Survives Deadliest Jellyfish Sting
best to stick to the swimming pools or clear tropical waters
He it is Who sends blessings on you, as do His angels, that He may bring you out from the depths of Darkness into Light: and He is Full of Mercy to the Believers. [Quran {33:43}] www.QuranicAudio.com www.Quran.com
Re: Girl Rewrites Medical History, Survives Deadliest Jellyfish Sting
format_quote Originally Posted by aadil77
best to stick to the swimming pools or clear tropical waters
Now you discovered the real reason I live in North Dakota. I believe we are in the spot on earth that is the furthest you can get from any ocean. No Jelly fish here.
Masha'Allaah that little girl's survival is a true miracle. Allaah(swt) must have some strong plans for her.
Re: Girl Rewrites Medical History, Survives Deadliest Jellyfish Sting
format_quote Originally Posted by cat eyes
jelly fishes scare me. they almost look invisible dont they? amazing
When I was a kid growing up in Connecticut I often went fishing on Long Island sound with one of my uncles. There were numerous jellyfish. I recall 2 types that were very common. One we called Sea Goose Berries, they looked like transparent berries, and did not sting. Another type we called sea nettles. They did sting and the sting felt very much like being stung by nettles, burned and itched at the same time. But not really dangerous. I never really saw any hazardous jelly fish until I moved to Texas and ran into Portuguese Man O'war in the Gulf of Mexico. Although they are not a true jelly fish, they have a strong enough sting to be very painful and numerous stings can be dangerous. They feel very much like a wasp sting. I can only imagine the pain of the sting that little girl experienced.
Re: Girl Rewrites Medical History, Survives Deadliest Jellyfish Sting
Woodrow, mashAllah you have so many experiences in life ... I wish I could be as adventurous, especially being a man
Help me to escape from this existence
I yearn for an answer... can you help me?
I'm drowning in a sea of abused visions and shattered dreams
In somnolent illusion... I'm paralyzed
Re: Girl Rewrites Medical History, Survives Deadliest Jellyfish Sting
format_quote Originally Posted by mad_scientist
Woodrow, mashAllah you have so many experiences in life ... I wish I could be as adventurous, especially being a man
Not by personal choice or desire. My child hood dream was to have lived a quiet uneventful life in my small home town. But, Allaah(swt) never ceased in pushing me to the path that led me to Islam. All of life is a challenge and adventure, the only adventure worth pursuing is the one that pleases Allaah(swt).
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Many people are amazed that 10-year-old Rachel Shardlow is alive. The Australian girl was swimming off the north coast of Queensland earlier this week when she was stung by an Australian box jellyfish -- believed to be the world's most venomous creature.
Australian box jellyfish live primarily in the coastal waters off northern Australia and throughout the Indo-Pacific. They are most numerous during Australia's rainy season from November through April, and they tend to congregate near the mouths of rivers (which is where Shardlow was stung) and creeks. Often beaches are closed to swimmers during the rainy season, precisely because of the box jellyfish threat.
There are no box jellyfish in the waters off the continental United States, but if you're traveling in the Indo-Pacific, be wary, and if you or someone you know should be stung, take action immediately. Emergency physicians recommend the following:
with salive fuming from their mouth
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