For nearly a decade, the standard practice in Ireland for treating stings by the Portuguese man o’ war jellyfish (Physalia physalis ) is to rinse with seawater and then apply ice, however, in a new study published last week, scientists from NUI Galway have found those measures are actually among the worst things to do if stung.
Collaborating with jellyfish sting experts from the University of Hawai‘i – Manoa, the NUI Galway scientists re-evaluated which commonly recommended first aid actions (such as rinsing with seawater ) are the most effective for Physalia stings.
Their results, published in the international journal Toxins, overturn the current advice, and show that the best first aid is to rinse with vinegar, to remove tentacles and then immerse in 45°C (113°F ) hot water or apply a hot pack for 45 minutes.
Just last September, armadas of these painful stingers came ashore in Ireland.
Dr Tom Doyle, lecturer in zoology from the School of Natural Sciences at NUI Galway, said: “We had unprecedented numbers washing up from Cork to Donegal last September. Thankfully we had very few reported stings given the time of year. However, if this event had occurred during the summer months, then we may have had hundreds of stings. Our new evidence-based research conclusively shows that the best first aid for a man o’ war sting is rinsing with vinegar or a Sting No More Spray, developed by the University of Hawai‘i – Manoa, followed by the immersion of the injured area in hot water or the application of a hot pack.”
But although man o’ war stings are common around the world, there was little agreement on the best first aid responses to such injuries until now. Dr Tom Doyle and PhD student Jasmine Headlam at NUI Galway collaborated with Dr Christie Wilcox, lead author of the paper and postdoctoral fellow with the Pacific Cnidaria Research Laboratory at the University of Hawai‘i, and her colleague Dr Angel Yanagihara, assistant research professor at the University’s Pacific Biosciences Research Center.
Commenting on the research, Dr Wilcox, said: “Physalia are often listed as exceptions to any blanket first aid recommendations for jellyfish stings. Without solid science to back up medical practices, we have ended up with conflicting official recommendations around the world, leading to confusion and, in many cases, practices that actually worsen stings and even cost lives.”
Dr Wilcox and Dr Yanagihara first examined box jellyfish, some of the deadliest jelly species in the world, finding that common practices such as applying urine or scraping away tentacles only make stings worse. Applying these new rigorous testing methods to man o’ war stings was the obvious next step, in which they collaborated with Dr Doyle at NUI Galway.
