Delayed skin reaction to something he touched

[Parrotfish]

Last week my husband and I were diving in Negril. He grabbed the wing of a sunken plane at one point on the dive and after the dive his fingers stung a little but were fine. Now a full week later, his fingers have turned red and become quite swollen. He had no swelling for all of the trip. The swelling and redness did not begin until a week after the contact. I am concerned about local doctors knowing what to make of this since we are no where near the ocean.

Can a nematocyst sting have this kind of a delay, or does this have to be something else? Should he be worried about staph? What kind of a doctor should he see?

Thanks!

 

[Duke Dive Medicine]

Typically marine life stings don't take a week to manifest. He may have retained fragments from a marine organism (e.g. coral) which could be causing inflammation/infection. Delayed hypersensitivity reaction is also possible but he's a bit outside the window for that. Does he have a fever? Also, is he under a doctor's care for anything else?
If you PM me your location I'll see if there is a diving physician near you who may be more familiar with marine life injuries than your local urgent care doc.