infection

A MUM who bought a tummy tuck off a Facebook as nearly died after an infection ate her stomach from the inside out.

Soreena O’Malley, from Hull, saved up for years to undergo the knife but was left “crying every single day” and a future in a wheelchair.

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The cosmetic procedure saw her bedridden with a gaping wound across her stomach.

The 34-year-old said she has “no tummy” left after the 360-degree liposuction in Turkey.

Soreena told Hull Live: “It is not very nice having to be bed-bound three months after a surgery that I have paid for because I was so self-conscious about my body.

“I wouldn’t wear bikinis on holiday. It really did take me a long time to save this money because it was something I have wanted since having my child.

“I have no tummy. My whole tummy is gone and it could take well up to two years to heal. It is a massive hole.”

Her husband Declain added: “She nearly died from it.”

Soreena recalled arriving at Turkish hospital and being handed consent forms with no English translation.

She is now warning people against opting for surgery abroad, and buying into dodgy advertisements on social media.

The 34-year-old required a skin graft and specialist care when she returned to the UK.

Her family have set up a GoFundMe to help cover medical fees, and support Soreena’s daughter.

Declain told how donations would help “give my little girl her mum back” after the ordeal tore their family apart.

The couple are desperate for funds to cover corrective surgery, a wheelchair and legal action.

Soreena fears her mobility may never return and says the nightmare has devastated their mental health.

NHS England was contacted for comment but had not responded at the time of publication.

This comes after another woman told how she was left rotting in a dingy hotel and wanted to die after a £15,000 botched tummy tuck.

Sara Platt, 34, is now taking the Turkish doctor who operated on her to court.

Speaking to the Mail, she said: “I was left with three days to live. I suffer with nightmares every night. I’ve got extreme PTSD.

“If somebody touches my stomach straight away, I can feel pain and that’s going to be with me forever.”

As soon as she woke up from the 13-hour operation – which included the tummy tuck, a breast implant and three other procedures – she knew something was catastrophically wrong.

The pain was so severe that she begged her dad to let her die – while her right breast was purple, she claimed.

Over the following days, Sara’s health deteriorated further – as brown liquid began to seep from her body.

She later spent eight weeks at the Welsh Centre for Burns and Plastic Surgery.

Now, the traumatised mum, who claims to be suffering from PTSD, will be forced to return to Turkey for medical examinations – as part of legal proceedings against the surgeon.

Elsewhere, another mum underwent the same horror when she contacted sepsis after a failed tummy tuck abroad.

Mum-of-one Cennet Lo went under the knife within hours of getting off her plane in Turkey with plans to have a tummy tuck, liposuction and Brazilian butt lift.

But the 28-year-old has been left traumatised from the ordeal after she regained consciousness during the invasive procedure.

Once she was under, the mum recalls horrifically waking up and witnessing her own operation.

There are plenty of Gogglebox stars who have lived heartbreaking health battles

Numerous Gogglebox personalities have confronted devastating health challenges over the years.

Since the cherished long-running Channel 4 programme launched over 10 years ago in 2013, it has brought us countless memorable households across the nation.

From Giles Wood and Mary Killen in Wiltshire and the Siddiqui clan in Derby to best pals Jenny Newby and Lee Riley in Hull, the participants consistently delight audiences with their brilliant quips and amusing reactions to the week’s television gems.

Nevertheless, various of the show’s personalities are battling serious health conditions and have candidly shared their ordeals throughout the years. reports the Manchester Evening News.

Sue’s Bell’s Palsy revelation

Last year, Sue Sheehan disclosed that she was battling Bell’s Palsy, which has impacted her ability to communicate. The South London resident – who appeared on the programme in 2019 alongside husband Steve – discussed the condition during a Gogglebox episode.

“I mean, I’ve had to relearn to do a couple of things since this Bell’s palsy,” she explained. Sue continued: “One is to speak through the side of my mouth, and the other one is chewing. Chewing takes a long time.”

Steve responded: “I have offered to chew your food for you, but you declined.” Sue then shot back: “I’m not having that.” Steve added: “I’ve got to say, you haven’t lost the sharp side of your tongue though, have you?” She quipped: “No, it’s sharper than ever actually.”

Tremaine’s cancer fight In 2020

Tremaine Plummer – who became part of Gogglebox in 2016 alongside his brothers – marked five years of being cancer-free following his battle with bowel cancer.

Sharing a hospital bed photograph on Instagram, he penned: “When I first saw this photo it made me feel sick and weak. I hated this photo for a long time. But now this photo is my medal. This was me 5 years ago. Post surgery for bowel cancer.

“One of the worst things that could have happened to me has turned into one of the best. Not everything bad that happens to you is the end. Out of some bad s*** comes good s***. The entire experience has been an eye opener and I view life totally different now. Stay strong.”

Jenny’s ‘awful’ condition

Gogglebox star Jenny Newby became part of the programme in 2014 alongside best pal Lee Riley. Yet in 2018, Jenny disclosed she has been struggling with arthritis.

Prior to viewing an advertisement created by charity Versus Arthritis, Jenny disclosed her condition, stating: “I’ve got arthritis.”

She went on: “I get more stressed now because I can’t fasten my coat. I can’t open a tin of beans and I’ve got to ask somebody. And that I think is the worst, when I have got to ask somebody because I feel like I am stupid.”

In a statement following the advert, Jenny confessed: “I’ve suffered with arthritis for a while now. I think something people don’t realise is the impact the condition has on simple everyday life. I really do think we should change that by being able to talk about it openly. It’s really important to me.”

Pete’s tragic passing

In 2021, Gogglebox star Pete McGarry tragically passed away from bowel cancer at the age of 71. He joined the show alongside his wife Linda in 2013.

Speaking about his death at the time, Linda revealed that Pete was told he had six months to live, but sadly died just days later, as reported by The Sun.

Linda told the publication: “Pete was a lovely man and I was so lucky to have him for 25 years. I said to him, ‘We’ve not only been 25 years, it’s been day and night with each other.’ He was my life.”

Mary’s brush with death

Giles Wood and Mary Killen have been regulars on Gogglebox since 2015. However, years ago, Mary had a near-death experience.

In a chat with The Guardian, Mary disclosed: “The closest I’ve come to death was contracting Legionnaires’ disease in 1999.”

She went into detail about the terrifying experience, saying: “I caught it from air conditioning in the Bahamas and developed something called Beau’s lines: white ridges across the fingernails which are a sign that your body’s shutting down for death.”

Having survived the ordeal, she admitted: “It knocked the stuffing out of me. I’ve never been quite the same since.”

Gogglebox airs every Friday at 9pm on Channel 4.

A BABY whose mother was not vaccinated against whooping cough has died after contracting the infection.

The UK Health Security Agency said the tot, thought to be under the age of one, died between March and June.

It is the first whooping cough death in the UK this year and comes after a child died of measles in Liverpool last month.

The agency’s Dr Gayatri Amirthalingam said: “Sadly, we are again reminded how severe whooping cough can be for very young babies.

“Vaccination is the best defence.

“It is vital pregnant women and infants receive their vaccines at the right time, ideally between 20 and 32 weeks.

“This passes protection to their baby in the womb so that they are protected from birth.”

Overall vaccination rates for primary school pupils are at the lowest for 15 years — with almost one in five not fully protected from diseases.

Over the coming weeks, millions of children will be flooding into classrooms across the UK.

And there’s a real risk they will return home with more than a few new friends and knowledge.

Pharmacist Thorrun Govind tells Sun on Sunday Health: “There’s often lots of hugging and playing between friends they haven’t seen all summer — and all that close contact means germs can easily spread.

“They also tend to cough and sneeze without covering their mouths and don’t always wash their hands without supervision.

“With early wake-ups, hard work in lessons and sports clubs, children can also get tired, which weakens their immune systems, leaving them prone to picking up illnesses.”

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THERE are fears for a Thai princess after the royal palace shared a concerning health update following her three-year-long coma battle.

Princess Bajrakitiyabha Mahidol, the eldest daughter of King Vajiralongkorn, is said to have developed a severe infection.

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The 46-year-old, affectionately known as Princess Bha, collapsed in December, 2022, while training her dogs in Nakhon Ratchasima, northeast of Bangkok.

She has been in a coma ever since.

The Bureau of the Royal Household gave the first update on her condition in more than two years on Friday, saying she had suffered a “severe” blood infection.

The palace said in a following update that a team of doctors were closely monitoring her situation.

It read: “The medical team said that she remains in a state of low blood pressure, requiring continuous treatment.

“Doctors are administering medication to stabilise her blood pressure, along with medical equipment and antibiotics to support kidney function and breathing.”

Over the years, some reports have suggested her health condition is far more serious than the palace is letting on.

Princess Bajrakitiyabha was training her dogs at a working dog championship organised by the Thaiarmy when she collapsed.

Paramedics rushed her to a nearby hospital before a helicopter took her to Bangkok’s Chulalongkorn health facility.

Bajrakitiyabha is the daughter of the king’s first wife, Princess Soamsawali.

She has been part of her father’s inner circle since he came to the throne in 2016 and is a senior officer in the king’s personal guard.

The fitness enthusiast is widely viewed as the most suitable successor for her father, who turned 70 this year.

She has post-graduate law degrees from two US universities and has long called for prison reforms in Thailand.

She was also the Thai ambassador to Austria between 2012 and 2014.

The 73-year-old king, who has seven children from four marriages, has not announced his chosen heir.

Though succession rules in Thailand favour men.

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TWO babies have been killed by an infection reportedly linked to their hospital’s contaminated dish soap – sparking an urgent recall.

The premature tots weighed less than two pounds each when they mysteriously died just hours apart at the San Maurizio Hospital in Italy.

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The pair had previously been diagnosed with an infection caused by Serratia marcescens, a deadly germ for those with underlying conditions. 

Both the babies were born three weeks ago, one the 23rd week of gestation and the other on the 27th.

The babies tragically passed away within hours of each other between August 12 and 13.

The babies developed sepsis from the fatal infection which was linked to the industrial dish soap at the hospital in Bolzano, about 150 miles south of the Italy-Austria border. 

The contamination was confirmed by Josef Widmann, the medical director of the South Tyrolean Health Authority.

Hospital director Pierpaolo Bertoli said: “The presence of this bacterium is not unique because it constantly poses a risk to neonatal intensive care units. 

“This is not so much because of the type of germ but because of the particular vulnerability of these little patients due to their immature immune systems.” 

All dish soap used by the Bolanzo hospital system was very quickly removed from the hospital. 

While the investigation is ongoing, the hospital will not be accepting any more high-risk premature babies, medical director of the hsopital Dr. Monika Zaebisch added.

All other cases, in the meantime, will be diverted to hospitals in Trento, a different region nearly 40 miles outside of Bolzano.

Zaebisch added: “At the Bolzano hospital, we have implemented all preventive measures to prevent the transmission of germs.

“The ward staff strictly adheres to hygiene measures. Unfortunately, these two cases could not be prevented,” Zaebisch assured.

Police have launched a probe into the infants’ deaths.

Authorities are weighing whether or not to order autopsies on the babies, which will help determine if charges of malpractice could be made.

It comes after two people in Italy died after eating a toxic veggie and sausage sandwich in Italy.

More than a dozen people were hospitalised after eating the poisoned sandwiches from a food truck near the town of Diamante in Calabria.

Tamara D’Acunto, 45, died shortly after eating the panini made with turnip greens – a vegetable similar to broccoli – last week.

 Luigi Di Sarno, 52, also died after taking a fatal bite from a sandwich bought from the same vendor.

In total, 17 other people have so far been hospitalised with food poisoning within 24 to 48 hours of eating the sandwiches. 

They all showed signs of botulism – an illness linked to the vegetable.

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The vaccine is expected to be out of stock for a number of weeks, Foreign Office website Travel Health Pro today reported

Holidaymakers have been alerted to a disruption in the supply of a crucial vaccine, which is expected to be ‘unavailable’ for the next 2-3 weeks. Sanofi has informed NaTHNaC that there will be a shortage of the yellow fever vaccine Stamaril in the UK.

The Foreign Office’s Travel Health Pro website reported today that the vaccine is anticipated to be out of stock for 2-3 weeks. NaTHNaC (National Travel Health Network and Centre) is a UK organisation dedicated to safeguarding the health of British travellers.

This means individuals travelling to certain regions globally will not be able to receive vaccination against this potentially deadly disease. The NHS warns: “Yellow fever is a serious infection spread by mosquitoes. It’s found in certain areas of Africa and South and Central America. You should have a yellow fever vaccination if you’re travelling to an area where there’s a risk of getting it.

Yellow Fever is a potentially fatal disease transmitted by mosqjuitos and turns wee dark, causes serious stomach pain, yellows the skin and eyes and bleeding from the eyes, nose, mouth or stomach – serious cases can be fatal.The Foreign Office site said: “.

Countries in Africa with Risk of Yellow fever Transmission:

Angola, Equatorial Guinea, Mauritania, Benin, Ethiopia, Niger, Burkina Faso, Gabon, Nigeria, Burundi, Gambia, the Senegal, Cameroon, Ghana, Sierra Leone, Central African Republic, Guinea, South Sudan, Chad, Guinea-Bissau, Sudan, Congo, Republic of Kenya, Togo, Cote d’Ivoire, Liberia, Uganda, Democratic Republic of Congo, Mal

Countries in Central and South America with Risk of Yellow Fever Transmission:

Argentina, French Guiana, Suriname, Bolivia, Guyana, Trinidad and Tobago (Trinidad only), Brazil, Panama, Venezuela, Colombia, Paraguay, Ecuador, Peru

The Foreign Office site said: “Where a Yellow Fever Vaccination Centre (YFVC) is unable to provide Yellow Fever vaccine during this vaccine shortage, the YFVC is expected to proactively research alternative supplies in their locality and direct travellers accordingly (this should be done for travellers who ring for advice and for travellers who attend for face to face consultation if vaccination is required promptly).

“YFVCs will help travellers seeking YF vaccine at this time of vaccine shortage by:

• Ensuring an individual risk assessment is undertaken, and that YF vaccination is appropriate
• Signposting the traveller to possible alternative YFVC which are listed on the NaTHNaC YFVC locator database
• Contacting vaccine “distributors on behalf of the traveller. Some vaccine distributors may hold information on YFVC with vaccine availability”

Check if you’re at risk of yellow fever

You can get yellow fever if you’re bitten by an infected mosquito. The mosquitoes that carry the yellow fever virus bite during the day.

Yellow fever is very common in certain parts of the world, including:

• parts of sub-Saharan Africa (the area below the Sahara desert)
• parts of South America, including Trinidad and Tobago
• parts of Central America

Yellow fever is not found in the UK, Europe, Asia, Australia, New Zealand or the Pacific Islands.

How to lower your risk of yellow fever

If you’re travelling to an area where yellow fever is found, there are some things you can do to avoid being bitten by mosquitoes.

• wear long-sleeved clothing and trousers to cover your arms and legs, particularly during early morning and early evening
• use insect repellent on your skin (ideally one that contains the ingredient DEET)
• close windows and doors whenever possible, or use blinds or screens
• sleep under a mosquito net treated with insecticide, including during the day

Symptoms of yellow fever

Yellow fever symptoms usually start 3 to 6 days after being bitten by an infected mosquito, but sometimes they can take longer to appear.

Some yellow fever symptoms are similar to flu, such as:

• high temperature
• headache
• feeling or being sick
• aches and pains
• loss of appetite
• feeling generally unwell

These symptoms often last 3 or 4 days. But a small number of people get more serious symptoms within 24 hours of feeling better.

More serious symptoms include:

• yellowing of your skin and eyes (jaundice)
• dark pee
• stomach pain
• bleeding from your eyes, nose, mouth or stomach – you may have blood in your vomit or poo

These more serious symptoms can be fatal.

For more information from the NHS on yellow fever click here.

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — A video showing dozens of people marching toward the office of Haiti’s prime minister elicited gasps from some viewers as it circulated recently on social media. The protesters, who are HIV-positive, did not conceal their faces — a rare occurrence in a country where the virus is still heavily stigmatized.

“Call the minister of health! We are dying!” the group chanted.

The protesters risked being shunned by society to warn that Haiti is running out of HIV medication just months after the Trump administration slashed more than 90% of the United States Agency for International Development’s foreign aid contracts and $60 billion in overall aid across the globe.

At a hospital near the northern city of Cap-Haitien, Dr. Eugene Maklin said he struggles to share that reality with his more than 550 HIV patients.

“It’s hard to explain to them, to tell them that they’re not going to find medication,” he said. “It’s like a suicide.”

‘We can’t stay silent’

More than 150,000 people in Haiti have HIV or AIDS, according to official estimates, although nonprofits believe the number is much higher.

David Jeune, a 46-year-old hospital community worker, is among them. He became infected 19 years ago after having unprotected sex.

“I was scared to let people know because they would point their finger at you, saying you are infecting others with AIDS,” he said.

His fear was so great that he didn’t tell anyone, not even his mother. But that fear dissipated with the support Jeune said he received from nonprofit groups. His confidence grew to the point where he participated in last week’s protest.

“I hope Trump will change his mind,” he said, noting that his medication will run out in November. “Let the poor people get the medication they need.”

Patrick Jean Noel, a representative of Haiti’s Federation of Assns. of HIV, said that at least five clinics, including one that served 2,500 patients, were forced to close after the USAID funding cuts.

“We can’t stay silent,” he said. “More people need to come out.”

But most people with HIV in Haiti are reluctant to do so, said Dr. Sabine Lustin, executive director of the Haiti-based nonprofit Promoters of Zero AIDS Goal.

The stigma is so strong that many patients are reluctant to pick up their medication in person. Instead, it is sent in packages wrapped as gifts so as to not arouse suspicion, she said.

Lustin’s organization, which helps some 2,000 people across Haiti, receives funding from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Though its funding hasn’t been cut, she said that shortly after President Trump took office in January, the agency banned HIV prevention activities because they targeted a group that is not a priority — which she understood to be referring to gay men.

That means the organization can no longer distribute up to 200,000 free condoms a year or educate people about the disease.

“You risk an increase in infections,” she said. “You have a young population who is sexually active who can’t receive the prevention message and don’t have access to condoms.”

‘That can’t be silenced’

On the sunny morning of May 19, a chorus of voices drowned out the din of traffic in Haiti’s capital, Port-au-Prince, growing louder as protesters with HIV marched defiantly toward the prime minister’s office.

“We are here to tell the government that we exist, and we are people like any other person,” one woman told reporters.

Another marching alongside her said, “Without medication, we are dying. This needs to change.”

Three days after the protest, the leader of Haiti’s transitional presidential council, Louis Gérald Gilles, announced that he had met with activists and would try to secure funding.

Meanwhile, nonprofit organizations across Haiti are fretting.

“I don’t know what we’re going to do,” said Marie Denis-Luque, founder and executive director of CHOAIDS, a nonprofit that cares for Haitian orphans with HIV/AIDS. “We only have medication until July.”

Her voice broke as she described her frantic search for donations for the orphans, who are cared for by HIV-positive women in Cap-Haitien after gang violence forced them to leave Port-au-Prince.

Denis-Luque said she has long advocated for the orphans’ visibility.

“We can’t keep hiding these children. They are part of society,” she said, adding that she smiled when she saw the video of last week’s protest. “I was like, whoa, things have changed tremendously. The stigma is real, but I think what I saw … was very encouraging to me. They can’t be silenced.”

A dangerous combination

Experts say Haiti could see a rise in HIV infections because medications are dwindling at a time that gang violence and poverty are surging.

Dr. Alain Casseus, infectious-disease division chief at Zanmi Lasante, the largest nongovernmental healthcare provider in Haiti, said he expected to see a surge in patients given the funding cuts, but that hasn’t happened because traveling by land in Haiti is dangerous since violent gangs control main roads and randomly open fire on vehicles.

He warned that abruptly stopping medication is dangerous, especially because many Haitians do not have access or cannot afford nutritious food to strengthen their immune system.

“It wouldn’t take long, especially given the situation in Haiti, to enter a very bad phase,” he said of HIV infections. And even if some funding becomes available, a lapse in medication could cause resistance to it, he said.

Casseus said gang violence also could accelerate the rates of infection by rapes or other physical violence as medication runs out.

At the New Hope Hospital run by Maklin in Haiti’s northern region, shelves are running empty. He used to receive more than $165,000 a year to help HIV/AIDS patients. But that funding has dried up.

“Those people are going to die,” he said. “We don’t know how or where we’re going to get more medication.”

The medication controls the infection and allows many to have an average life expectancy. Without it, the virus attacks a person’s immune system and they develop AIDS, the late stage of an HIV infection.

Reaction is swift when Maklin tells his patients that in two months, the hospital won’t have any HIV medication left.

“They say, ‘No, no, no, no!’” he said. “They want to keep living.”

Coto and Sanon write for the Associated Press and reported from San Juan, Puerto Rico, and Port-au-Prince, respectively.

THE number of people who have fallen ill with a parasitic infection after visiting a petting farm in Wales has risen to 78, health officials have confirmed.

Sixteen of those affected have been taken to hospital following visits to Cowbridge Farm Shop at Marlborough Grange Farm, in the Vale of Glamorgan.

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All tested positive for cryptosporidium – a highly contagious parasite that causes cryptosporidiosis, an infection that can affect both humans and farm animals.

One of those who fell sick with little Alba Dobbinson.

The eight-year-old suffered nausea and diarrhoea after feeding lambs at the farm with her mother, Vici, on April 17.

Mum Vici said: “We were stunned because we had only been around other families and couldn’t pinpoint where Alba had caught it.

“It’s not like a 48-hour bug, it can potentially go on for up to a month.”

She added: “She can’t even go to school, spend time with her friends or enjoy the weather.”

Gareth Carpenter, a dad whose son, Michael is suspected to have contracted the parasite at the farm said he had never seen his son as ill as he got after the infection.

“He’s had chicken pox, he’s had flu, he has had viruses, he had many, many, many things as you can imagine as kids do when they mix in with other children, but I’ve never, ever seen him that ill before,” he told WalesOnline.

“We had to put him back in nappies, just literally leaking. He was just leaking from them. It was horrendous, stomach pains and cramps,” he added.

The farm has since closed its doors to the public voluntarily, while health authorities investigate the outbreak.

“Due to the incubation period of the infection, it is expected that this number may continue to increase in the coming week,” a Public Health Wales (PHW) spokesperson warned.

The update on confirmed cases comes after a multi-agency outbreak control team held its third meeting on Thursday, 8 May.

Su Mably, consultant in health protection for PHW, said: “Although cryptosporidium infection is usually mild and clears up on its own, it can cause more serious illness in young children and people with weakened immune systems.”

The main symptoms of cryptosporidium infection according to the NHS include:

1. Watery diarrhoea
2. Stomach pains or cramps
3. Nausea
4. Vomiting
5. Mild fever
6. Loss of appetite
7. Weight loss
8. Dehydration

Symptoms usually start two to 10 days after infection and can last for around two weeks once they appear

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Sometimes the illness may seem to improve as symptoms ease, but they can return before full recovery.

Su added: “If you visited the farm and feel unwell, please contact your GP or call NHS 111.

“It is possible for this infection to be passed on from one person to another.”

Due to the bug’s highly infectious nature people with symptoms such as diarrhoea and vomiting are told to stay off work or school until they have been free from these symptoms for at least 48 hours.

Touching infected poo and then putting your unwashed hands near your mouth is a common way of catching cryptosporidios.

This is because the bug lives in the intestines of infected humans and animals and is passed out in their poo.

“It is important to protect yourself by washing your hands well, particularly before preparing food,” Su added.

How can I protect myself against cryptosporidiosis?

The cryptosporidium parasite can be found in the intestines and faeces of infected humans and animals, according to UK Health Security Agency.

It may contaminate lakes, streams and rivers, swimming pools, untreated or poorly treated water and food – like raw milk and fresh produce – as well as objects such as farm gates and outdoor boots and clothing.

“Outbreaks of cryptosporidiosis have been linked to drinking or swimming in contaminated water and contact with infected lambs and calves during visits to open farms,” UKHSA said.

You can get cryptosporidiosis from another person or animal by touching faeces, for example when changing a nappy or petting a lamb and putting your hands near or in your mouth without washing them thoroughly.

You can also get the bug from swimming in or drinking contaminated water.

Occasionally, you can be infected by eating contaminated food, including unwashed or unpeeled vegetables or salads or drinking contaminated raw milk.

Children aged one to five are those most commonly infected with the bug and people with weak immune systems are likely to be more seriously affected.

Sufferers will usually be struck down with mild to severe watery diarrhoea.

Just last month health chiefs issued a warning to families planning to visit farms this spring, as a rise in temperatures could also see an increase in “harmful” pathogens.

Petting zoos in particular can expose visitors to gastrointestinal infections, they said.

Last year the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) issued a warning about the risk of cryptosporidium infection from farm visits.

In May 2024, more than 100 people were also infected by cryptosporidium in Brixham, Devon. 

The outbreak was believed to be linked to water contaminated with infected faeces making its way into the drinking supply. 

Whole streets in the town were infected, with victims forced to endure days of diarrhoea and agonising stomach cramps, with one sufferer even comparing them to ‘childbirth’. 

And just one month earlier, dozens of parents and children fell seriously ill, and some were hospitalised, after visiting Gannow Farm in Worcestershire.