SCUBA Diving Topics
General SCUBA Diving Topics
Boat (Live-Aboard)
Dive Sites
Medical
- 2 scientists refute online cures for jellyfish stings
- Recommended: "Sting No More" spray and cream; Vinegar; Hot water (>45C, >113F)
- Avoid: Sea water; Fresh water; Ice; Scraping (e.g. with a credit card)
- Source: "Cubozoan Sting-Site Seawater Rinse, Scraping, and Ice Can Increase Venom Load: Upending Current First Aid Recommendations," Toxins, March 15, 2017
- The Toxins article faulted WebMD and the Mayo Clinic's website for advising people to rinse jellyfish stings with seawater to "remove" or "deactivate" stingers, and for advising use of a credit card to scrape them off.
- Sting-relief research touts vinegar's effect - Honolulu Star-Advertiser - Jellyfish (including the Hawaiian Box Jellyfish and probably the Portuguese man-of-war)
- Box jellyfish are known to cause 100 deaths a year around the world.
- In Hawaii, box jellyfish are known to come into leeward and southern shores with the tide at night some eight to 10 days after a full moon.
- Recommended
= Do this ASAP
- Vinegar - Do this first. Douse affected skin area with vinegar.
- Hot water works well on jellyfish venom stings as it significantly reduces hemolysis, the destruction of red blood cells at the wound. UH advises running the hottest water you can stand for 20 or 30 minutes.
- Sting No More - a therapeutic ointment (containing vinegar and copper gluconate) and rinse developed by UH with the USA Department of Defense. (rinse solution spray and a treatment cream)
- NOT Recommended = Don't do this
- Urine
- Ice
- Cool or cold water
- Over-the-counter products were found to be ineffective. (Lidocaine, Ethanol, Isopropanol)
- Using an ID card and shaving cream. (Duh!)
- Scraping the skin will activate undischarged venom cells.
- Vinegar, heat are best way to treat man-of-war stings, UH study finds
- Packing tips for dive trips:
- Malaria medication
- Alcohol-based ear drops (should be used after every day of diving)
- Decongestants
- Ointments for scratches
- A course of wide-spectrum antibiotics (just in case)
- Ear medication (for infection) (e.g. Garamycin Otic)
- Eye medication (for infection) (e.g. Sodium Sulamyd)
- Hep.A, Hep.B, Typhoid, Polio, Diptheria&Tetanus, TB, etc...
- Motion Sickness = Sea Sickness
- Motion Sickness = Sea Sickness
-
- CDC = Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
- DAN = Divers Alert Network
- Exercise Before, During, and After Diving - Don't Do It !!!!
- IAMAT = International Association for Medical Assistance to Travellers
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- Malaria / Mosquito
- See also: Insects ...
- See also: Pests ...
- See also: Dengue ...
- See also: Vaccines for Malaria
- Malaria is an illness caused by the microscopic Plasmodium parasite, which infects and destroys red blood cells (watch overview). Over 200 million people are diagnosed annually. Roughly 600,000 people die as a result of the illness—nearly 80% of whom are children. Approximately 95% of malaria cases arise in sub-Saharan Africa. See more data here.
- Dengue Fever
- What Is Dengue Fever? Experts Weigh In | POPSUGAR Health
- Dengue fever is a viral disease transmitted through the bite of infected mosquitoes of the Aedes species.
- Unfortunately, there is no specific antiviral medication for dengue fever, so treatment consists of supportive care that includes hydration, rest, fever control, and pain management. However, you should not use Aspirin or aspirin-related products like ibuprofen or Advil as it may increase the risk of internal bleeding. Instead, you should only treat fever and pain with acetaminophen, like Tylenol.
- Symptoms typically subside within a week, but severe dengue occurs in one in 20 people.
- Signs And Symptoms Of The West Nile Virus | HuffPost Life - with suggestions for mosquito repellants
- Malaria - Our World in Data
- What Does Malaria Do to the Human Body? - YouTube
- http://www.priory.co.uk - Search for "malaria"
- Travelers' Health | CDC
- WEHI - Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research - Search for "malaria"
- Plasmodium parasite causes malaria in humans.
- It's possible to catch malaria over and over again.
- Malaria medications
- Framework for the allocation of limited malaria vaccine supply
- Structure of the malaria vaccine candidate Pfs48/45 and its recognition by transmission blocking antibodies | bioRxiv
- This parasite will self-destruct: researchers discover new weapon against drug-resistant malaria
- Vaccines
- Lariam (= Mefloquine = Mephaquine) Mefloquine should be considered strictly as a treatment drug, not a preventative. Neuro-toxicity. Side-effects may begin with diarrhea (not necessarily 'disabling'). The disabling 'unwanted effects' can be dizziness, lethargy, insomnia, 'pins-and-needles', severe headache or migraine, uncontrollable anxiety, unexplained depression, and sometimes developing further into symptoms as severe as a violent mood shift, fits and seizures, panic attacks, and serious psychosis ('detachment from reality'). These are the so-called neuro-psychiatric effects.The residual effects of mefloquine can last years. Mefloquine is not recommended for divers because: it may have adverse side-effects on the sense of balance; it may induce side-effects which could be mis-diagnosed as neurological decompression illness; it may adversely interact with the effects of raised partial pressure of nitrogen. Combined with other problems (allergies; epilepsy; kidney or liver or heart complaints; pregnancy) or other drugs (beta-blockers; any other anti-malarial drug; halofantrine), Mefloquine can be fatal.
- Artemisinin
- Doxycycline (= Vibramycin) May increase photosensitivity (susceptibility to sunburn).
- Malarone
- Quinine
- Chloroquine. Often combined with proguanil. (Aralene?)
- chloroquine phosphate
- 2020 CoViD-19 Pandemic: People died after self-medicating with this drug after President D.Trump recommended (in the 2020-03-20 White House briefing) two anti-malaria medications. Do not take these drugs for CoViD-19 (to prevent or to cure). They are not effective and can be deadly.
- hydroxychloroquine
- azithromycin.
- Australia approves malaria drug tafenoquine for use in children - UPI.com - 2022
- Avoid being bitten (insects / bugs / mosquitos) ...
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