Vinegar Helps 5-Year-Old Boy Survive After Being Stung by Extremely Venomous Jellyfish

A child was lucky to live after being stung by an extremely venomous box jellyfish. According to a report, they applied vinegar immediately, and it helped.

Boy Survived an Extremely Venomous Jellyfish Sting

A deadly jellyfish approached a 5-year-old child as he was swimming at Casuarina Beach near Darwin, a city in the Northern Territory, and stung him across his legs and stomach. He was rushed to the Royal Darwin Hospital, Newsweek reported.

A box jell jellyfish, known for its cuboid body, was the culprit. Its ten-foot-long tentacles are covered in microscopic toxic darts called nematocysts, making it exceedingly venomous.

According to reports, vinegar was crucial to the child's survival. The acetic acid in vinegar deactivates nematocysts that have not yet impacted the sufferer, stopping them from opening and releasing venom. As a result, vinegar is advised for stung patients.

Sam Edwards, education manager for Surf Life Saving Northern Territory, told ABC News Australia that the longer the box jellyfish's tentacles are on the person's skin, the more venom is released into the body.

So it's crucial to apply the vinegar as soon as possible to remove the tentacles immediately.

Two lifeguards assisted the youngster by treating the boy's sting with vinegar and calling for an ambulance.

It was an unusual occurrence that someone got stung. Fortunately, according to Edwards, some off-duty lifesavers were around, but the incident would have ended differently if they had no access to vinegar.

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What Is A Box Jellyfish?

A box jellyfish may appear harmless, but its sting could be enough to send you to your grave. The biological booby traps called nematocysts, microscopic darts filled with poison, are found on the tentacles of box jellyfish, which get their name from their shape, according to National Ocean Service.

Within a few minutes of being stung, those unfortunate enough to be injected with this toxin may endure cardiac arrest, paralysis, and even death. Only a few of the approximately 50 species of box jellyfish, sometimes known as sea wasps, produce venom that is fatal to humans.

Box jellyfish are common in warm coastal waters all over the world, although the deadly types are mostly found in northern Australia and the Indo-Pacific region, which includes the most poisonous marine species, the Australian box jellyfish (Chironex fleckeri). The largest box jellyfish, Chironex fleckeri, may grow up to one foot in diameter and have thick, bootlace-like tentacles extending up to ten feet.

Box jellyfish differ from other jellyfish in a number of ways. The most notable difference is that although most jellyfish species float wherever the tide takes them with no control over their direction, box jellyfish can swim at maximum speeds surpassing four knots. Box jellyfish have eyes as well. On each side of the box are groups of eyes and some sophisticated, with a lens and cornea, an iris that can contract in bright light, and a retina. As National Geographic puts it, box jellyfish are highly advanced among its species.