If you plan on heading to the beaches in southern Italy anytime soon, you might want to grab a bottle of white vinegar along with the sun block. Hundreds of thousands have been spotted in the waters surrounding the Campania region and northern Sicily, and much further north in the area of Portofino in Liguria. Read more HERE.

When we lived in Jacksonville FL, the lifeguards used ammonia to treat jellyfish stings. They also told us that monosodium glutimate worked well to.

In an emergency, I have also heard that urine will work on jellyfish stings.

Bill

DO NOT use urine on a jellyfish sting! This is a myth. In some cases, urine can even make the pain worse.

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/story?id=2283933&page=1

http://firstaid.about.com/od/bitesstings/f/07_JellyfishPee.htm

Most beach resorts will have creams and will know how to deal with jellyfish stings. Also, you can count on the advise of the local pharmacist. My Mum, who used to have a pharmacy in a small seaside village, used to become "jellyfish sting" expert from May to September - as well as sun-burn expert!

quote:

to the beaches in southern Italy anytime soon, you might want to grab a bottle of white

white wine vinegar will work great and you can buy it after you get there!

just in case you're in the sea and someone shouts medusa at you, they're not calling you a mythological monster but it's the Italian for jellyfish

Yep. On the Amalfi coast last summer, my son got stung by a "medusa" - it was very painful for him. A local family had a spray with them that helped.

Meanwhile, all the local kids later were screaming "medusa" and jumped out of the water until someone caught it with a net.

I wonder if the phenol in those bug sting rollon tubes would work also?

we just got back from the sorrento area and the kids had a great time in the water. no evedence of any jelly fish. i was wondering if there is a jelly fish season or if they are around at different times of day, like at sunset or early morning?

Here is a brief article on jellyfish.

We always see a few on the beach at Viareggio, when there in June/July but have never had a problem.