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Irukandji SyndromeIrukandji syndrome is an occasionally fatal disease in swimmers in tropical Australian seas which is due to being stung by a jellyfish, Carukia barnesi. In 1964, Dr. Jack Barnes confirmed the cause of the syndrome to be a small box jellyfish, with a bell up to 2.5cm across. In order to prove that the jellyfish was the cause of the syndrome, he deliberately stung himself and his son and observed the symptoms. It is possible that other similar jellyfish are also the cause fo this syndrome. The Irukandji syndrome includes an array of systemic symptoms such as severe headache, backache, muscle pains, chest and abdominal pain, nausea and vomiting, sweating, and pulmonary oedema. There is no antivenom and treatment is largely supportive with analgesia being the mainstay. Trials are underway to evaluate the effectiveness of Magnesium Sulphate as a treatment. A paper from the Cairns Base Hospital lists 62 cases of Irukandji envenomation in 1996, with 2 victims developing pulmonary oedema, presumably secondary to either a direct myocardial depressant action of the toxin, or due to excessive catecholamine release. Most stings occur during the summer wet season in December-January. Irukandji is the name of the aboriginal tribe originally living at Palm Cove, north of Cairns, where stings are most frequent. References - Barnes JH. Cause and effect in Irukandji stingings. Med J Aust 1964; 1: 897-904.
* Little M, Mulcahy RF. A year's experience of Irukandji envenomation in far north Queensland. Med J Aust. 1998 Dec 7-21;169(11-12):638-41.
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