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Malaria death: Lancashire woman Jayne Rowley dies in hospital | Malaria death: Lancashire woman Jayne Rowley dies in hospital |
(35 minutes later) | |
A Lancashire woman has died after contracting malaria on holiday in the west African country of The Gambia. | A Lancashire woman has died after contracting malaria on holiday in the west African country of The Gambia. |
Jayne Rowley, from Lytham, died on Wednesday after suffering a seizure in Blackpool Victoria Hospital. | Jayne Rowley, from Lytham, died on Wednesday after suffering a seizure in Blackpool Victoria Hospital. |
Her husband Martin is being treated for the condition in the hospital. | Her husband Martin is being treated for the condition in the hospital. |
Dr Lisa Ford, of The Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, said only two people died of the disease in the UK last year. | Dr Lisa Ford, of The Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, said only two people died of the disease in the UK last year. |
Mr Rowley, who owns a family business Carpets of Lytham, said he had been left "shell-shocked". | Mr Rowley, who owns a family business Carpets of Lytham, said he had been left "shell-shocked". |
Speaking from the hospital, he said the couple regularly visited a holiday home in The Gambia, but had never taken anti-malaria tablets. | |
"We go back and forward a few times a year. We got complacent. I would recommend nobody does this as we have learnt by our mistake," he said. | "We go back and forward a few times a year. We got complacent. I would recommend nobody does this as we have learnt by our mistake," he said. |
'Flu symptoms' | |
Mr Rowley said he started with flu-like symptoms on 17 November and his wife started feeling ill two days later. | |
"The only way I can describe it is the worst case of flu you can experience. | |
"Whereas with flu the headaches get better, in this case they get worse and worse. | |
"It's like being hit by a sledgehammer every moment of the day," he said. | |
The following week they went to hospital and Mrs Rowley had a seizure and ended up in intensive care, he said. | |
He said he was warned on Tuesday his wife's condition would not improve and the following day every bodily function began to fail. | |
Dr Ford, who practises at the tropical medicine school's travel clinic and is a clinical adviser for the National Travel Health Network and Centre (NaTHNaC), said malaria was treatable with early diagnosis. | |
But she said people needed to take a full course of anti-malaria tablets as part of their travel arrangements to high-risk areas. | |
According to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) The Gambia is a major tourist destination for British tourists with more than 60,000 visitors a year accounting for 60% of its tourists. | |
It is described as a high-risk area for malaria by NaTHNaC. |
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