NOTHING ruins a trip to a beach island like hearing you can’t go for a swim because of a spike in numbers of deadly jellyfish. That’s exactly what happened to visitors on the popular Thai islands of Koh Samui, Koh Pha-Ngan and Koh Tao, where officials have been posting signs warning of an expected spike in the number of deadly box jellyfish.
The pale-blue, cube-shaped creatures, whose venom is considered to be among the deadliest in the world, are found in the Gulf of Thailand throughout the year but their numbers usually spike during the rainy season, from July to October, according to the Middle Gulf of Thailand Marine and Coastal Resources Research and Development Centre.
“Warning signs have been put up on all beaches, but swimming is not prohibited,” said a marine academic at the centre. Beaches on the islands were equipped with vinegar and first aid kits and nets had been set up in the sea to create safe zones for swimmers, the academic added. Over the past 20 years, six people have died after being stung by box jellyfish in Thailand: four on Koh PhaNgan, an island internationally known for its full-moon parties, and two on Koh Samui.
The most recent deaths took place in 2015 when two female tourists, a Thai and a German, were killed by box jellyfish on Koh Pha-Ngan and Koh Samui respectively. What do you do if you’ve been stung by a jellyfish? If you get stung by a jellyfish, the best thing you can do is wash the area with diluted vinegar.
Beaches where jellyfish stings are common will often have emergency bottles of diluted vinegar ready for such instances. If you can’t find one, seawater will also help, pharmacists say.
Freshwater, on the other hand, will only make the nematocysts, the jellyfish’s venomous stingers, open up, so you should avoid having a shower or rinsing the sting with tap water. Another good way to lessen the stinging is by spraying on shaving foam. You should feel better if you let it dry on the affected area of the skin and then scrape it off with a credit card.
Cooling down the area should give some relief, and you can take anti-inflammatory medication to ease the pain caused by the sting. If the sting stretches over a large area or if you experience an allergic reaction to the jellyfish, you should see a doctor. – dpa
