Irukandji jellyfish sting closes Broome’s world-famous Cable Beach

Broome’s world-famous Cable Beach has been closed for 24 hours after a surfer was stung by a deadly Irukandji jellyfish. While Irukandji stings aren’t very common in Broome, they can be present in local waters between November and April, particularly after heavy rain. Just a few millimetres long, the tiny creature can deliver an excruciating sting which can cause victims to suffer fatal brain haemorrhages. Globally, around 100 people are admitted to hospitals because of Irukandji stings each year. The family of jellies sport bells up to 3cm long, but it is stings from their sometimes metre-long wispy tentacles that can cause serious reactions and sometimes deaths. Jellyfish have killed at least 81 people since 1883. The box jellyfish was responsible for 79 deaths, and irukandji the other two. A teenage boy died in north Queensland last month after being stung by a box jellyfish First-aid for Irukandji stings involves pouring vinegar over the site, removing tentacles and taking pain-killers. But the vinegar does not remedy the poison already injected. The result of a sting is severe localised pain, often associated with vigorous attempts by the patient to remove the tentacles, confusion, agitation, unconsciousness with respiratory failure and/or cardiac arrest. Due to the rapid onset of symptoms, immediate first-aid is vital and cardiopulmonary resuscitation may be required. In April 2021, the harrowing story of seven-year-old Broome boy Carlos Dann-Glauser, who was stung by an Irukandji while swimming with family at Town Beach came to light. Within minutes, Carlos began to experience a tightening of his throat and back spasms, sending his parents into a panic. “It became pretty apparent how serious it was when Carlos started to complain about his throat — we thought we better rush him to hospital,” Carlos’ father Nic Glauser said. “Luckily the hospital rushed us straight through and identified pretty quickly what they thought it was. “He was given a bunch of medicines and pain-killers, but even with all that he was in so much pain. It was like watching your kid be tortured.” Mr Glauser said he was shocked to learn an irukandji was responsible. “We’ve lived in Broome for 10 years, we swim there all the time and this has never happened, so it really took us by surprise,” he said. “Carlos was swimming with a bunch of other kids and he was the only one to get stung.” Mr Glauser said he was thankful staff at Broome Hospital acted so quickly in identifying and treating the sting. Speaking to the Broome Advertiser just three days after the incident, Carlos said the pain was worse than the broken arm he suffered in 2020, but he was happy to get a day off school as a result.