Sudden Death in a Child Following Jellyfish Envenomation by Chiropsalmus quadrumanus: Case Report and Autopsy Findings

Kenneth Bengston, M. M. Nichols, Vicki Schnadig, Michael D. Ellis

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

42 Scopus citations

Abstract

Sudden death following coelenterate envenomation is not uncommon in Australia where the Pacific box jellyfish is indigenous. However, few cases of sudden fatal reactions have been reported in the Northern Hemisphere, and those that have occurred have all been attributed to the Portuguese man-of-war, Physalia physalis. We report the case of a child who died within 40 minutes of accidental envenomation with tentacles of a jellyfish, Chiropsalmus quadrumanus, and describe the findings at autopsy. This coelenterate may be of special danger to small children.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)1404-1406
Number of pages3
JournalJAMA: The Journal of the American Medical Association
Volume266
Issue number10
DOIs
StatePublished - Sep 11 1991
Externally publishedYes

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • General Medicine

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Sudden Death in a Child Following Jellyfish Envenomation by Chiropsalmus quadrumanus: Case Report and Autopsy Findings'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this