Marine Bites and Stings

The major box jellyfish, Chironex fleckeri, is the most dangerous jellyfish in the world. In Australia it has killed 67 people. The last 10 deaths in the NT have all been children in remote coastal communities, with the last Australian death being in a six-year-old child at Yarrabah, near Cairns. The death is quick, usually within 20 minutes of the sting, and the patient often succumbs on the beach. The mode of death is thought to be a cardiac death. The major box jellyfish is found throughout tropical Australia, with cases being reported from Gladstone (Qld), through to Broome in WA. The greatest numbers of cases occur in the NT. In the NT, major box jellyfish stings have occurred in every month of the year, except one, where as in Qld the jellyfish season is said to be October to May. It is believed that these jellyfish breed in the estuaries then migrate to the ocean, being helped by the rainfall of the wet season. They have never been found in the offshore waters around coral reefs, only in coastal regions. The stinging mechanisms, the nematocysts, are located on the tentacles of the jellyfish. They are like spring-loaded syringes, which explosively discharge toxic venom when activated, usually by contact but also by remote factors. The venom of the major box jellyfish has not yet been extensively characterized, although it is believed to have a cardiotoxic effect, dermatonecroti