The mother of a UK backpacker who died from Dengue fever while travelling in southeast Asia has issued a warning amid fears climate change could bring the disease to the UK.
Bob Toulson-Burke was 21 when he came down with flu like symptoms whilst travelling.
Just two weeks later, he died from dengue fever in a hospital in Bangkok.
Initially the 21-year-old complained of headaches, nausea and joint pain but was told to come back again if his condition worsened.
After developing the fever, he was transferred to hospital where he spoke to his mother for the final time.
“He said ‘I’ll have to go now Mum because I can’t breathe very well’, and that was the last I spoke to him,” his mother, Jayne told Sky News.
Bob later suffered a series of heart attacks and died on December 7, 2016.
His mother later recreated his trip and warned travellers about the virus and hopes her message can alert current and future travellers to the dangers of the disease.
“The majority of times they really took it on board to take a card from me and I’d say please stay safe, these are the symptoms. And then others would just say, ‘It won’t happen to me,’” she said.
Her warning comes as doctors believe dengue fever may spread to the UK due to climate change after a British woman caught the virus in France last September.
The 44-year-old had been visiting family in Nice and went to A&E when she returned home.
She didn’t need treatment but an expert from London’s Hospital for Tropical Diseases in London warned that the number of dengue fever cases is rising in Europe.
“This individual was part of an outbreak of over 30 locally transmitted cases in the south of France in 2022, which highlights the rapidly changing epidemiology of dengue,” Dr Owain Donnelly said in a report.
“With climate change, particularly hotter temperatures and more rainfall, and increasing global trade and tourism, we may see more parts of Europe with the right combination of factors for dengue outbreaks.
“Surveillance and reporting mechanisms are important in ensuring we have an accurate understanding of dengue spread.”
Between June and September 2022, the Agence Regionale de Santé in France reported three separate outbreaks of the disease.
