Understanding of organelle changes treatment approach to jellyfish stings

Photo: Wikipedia.

According to The Australian "Higher Education," scientists from James Cook University and Cairns Hospital claim that vinegar should not be used to treat jelly fish stings.

This short video (embedding was disabled) talks about the mechanism for a jellyfish sting. Generally speaking, an electric pulse through the tentacles triggers a reaction in the cnidoblasts, the stinging cell. The nematocyst, an organelle in the cnidoblasts is  harpooned into the prey, and the nematocysts release neurotoxins into the organism.

This diagram, found on the Kennesaw State University website, shows the nematocyst in the cnidoblast before and after discharge.

When scientists initially recommended vinegar for jelly fish sting treatment, they  based their recommendation on the discovery that vinegar reduces the ability of inactive nematocysts to activate. However, according to Higher Education, the research groups involved in this newly published study discovered higher levels of toxicity in patients treated with vinegar because the vinegar made the already discharged nemacysts discharge more venom.