IIrukandji jellyfish stings girl on Fraser Island
>
A 5-year-old girl is airlifted to hospital after being the FIFTH child stung by jellyfish on a popular island in a summer vacation horror
- 5-year-old girl bitten by a suspected iIrukandji jellyfish on Queensland’s K’Gari Island
- Fifth child to be bitten by a poisonous species at a popular tourist spot in 10 days
- The girl was airlifted by LifeFlight to the hospital where she remains stable.
- Increasing calls from experts to close the western end of K’Gari to tourists
A little girl has become the fifth child to be stung by a deadly jellyfish while on vacation at a popular tourist spot.
The 5-year-old girl was swimming at a beach near a stream on the western tip of K’gari (Fraser Island) on Saturday when an iIrukandji jellyfish stung her on the lower back and leg.
His parents treated the bite with vinegar and water while they waited for paramedics to arrive.
A RACQ LifeFlight rescue team was deployed from Bundaberg to treat the girl on the island.
She was airlifted to Hervey Bay Hospital, where she remains stable.
A girl was airlifted to hospital after she was stung by an irukandji jellyfish in K’Gari.
Another RACQ rescue helicopter rushed to Keswick Island, 30km east of Mackay, after a young swimmer was reported to have been stung by an irukandji jellyfish.
A 13-year-old boy on holiday from Biggera Waters was airlifted to Mackay Base Hospital in stable condition.
The five-year-old girl who was vacationing in K’gari was the fifth girl in 10 days to be flown from the island with suspected Irukandji bites.
Three girls, including two sisters, were airlifted to the hospital on back-to-back LifeFlight missions on December 27.
The teams returned to K’gari to airlift a child suffering from symptoms of a bite.
A five-year-old boy was also rushed to hospital after being attacked by a dingo on the popular island off the Queensland coast on December 18.
The Irukandji jellyfish is a species of small, extremely venomous box jellyfish about 2 cm in diameter, making it difficult for swimmers to notice it in the water.
The species is generally found in tropical Australian waters from November to May.
The latest incident follows an avalanche of jellyfish sings K’Gari, a popular tourist spot.
Three girls, including two sisters, were airlifted to the hospital on back-to-back LifeFlight missions on December 27. In the photo, one of the patients.
The Queensland Department of Environment and Science recently issued alerts for marine stingers in the waters of K’gari, Hervey Bay and Great Sandy Strait through the summer and into May of next year.
“Swimmers have reported sea stingers on the western side of K’gari (Fraser Island), particularly Platypus Bay and around creeks, including Awinya and Wathumba,” the department states on its website.
‘Several visitors have been bitten in recent years, with symptoms requiring paramedical attention.
“Medical assistance is limited in K’gari and visitors are advised to keep this in mind.”
Sea stingers and other marine life can cause serious injury or death.
The spate of jellyfish stings has caused parts of K’Gari to be closed to tourists.
It can take up to 45 minutes to feel the painful effects of an irukandji jellyfish (pictured)
“If you’re on Fraser Island on the western side of the island right now, I wouldn’t be going in the water, it’s that simple,” James Cook University associate professor Jamie Seymour recently told Yahoo.
We don’t have any research on what goes on there, other than things we had 15 years ago when we first found them there.
“So the only option you have, and I’m surprised they haven’t done this, is to close the beach and close that western side of Fraser Island where the people are.”
The symptoms of Irukandji poisoning are not always immediate and can appear up to 45 minutes after the initial bite.
Symptoms to watch for include severe back pain or headache, shooting pains in the muscles, chest, and abdomen, nausea, anxiety, restlessness, vomiting, and shortness of breath.