Marine Envenomation

With global warming and an increasing frequency of human interaction with venomous marine organisms, physicians are likely to encounter more cases of marine envenomation in clinical practice in Japan and around the world. Few review articles regarding the clinical characteristics of marine envenomation have been published and there has been no comprehensive review of available antivenoms, which are the definitive treatment. We discuss the epidemiology, venom activity, clinical symptoms, diagnosis, and treatment of marine envenomation by the Okinawan box jellyfish, stonefish, Portuguese man-of-war, geography cone, and blue-ringed octopus. A comprehensive review of available antivenom treatments is also presented.