Irish woman almost died after mosquito bite while on holiday
Sharon Bannerton was enjoying a visit to Dubai when she noticed she had been bitten on her lower leg but the few bites soon turned out to be something much more serious.
Sharon explained on Newstalk how she scratched the "three or four bites" around her ankles and drew blood but didn't feel any ill effects immediately afterwards.
Feeling healthy and having cleaned up the blood, Sharon decided to head to the swimming pool for a dip. But after a few days, she started to feel unwell and detailed how she was "fluish, cold, tired" and had a "bit of a headache."
The day she flew back to Ireland, Sharon had a meal with pals and stayed with one of her friends, which she now believes may have been the decision that avoided tragedy.
Sharon's friend, Noel, checked on Sharon the next morning and she was "completely out of it". An emergency dash to hospital discovered that it was more serious than anyone could imagine and it was all related to the mosquito bites.
"I was crashing, my organs started to shut down," Sharon explained. "I ended up having a seizure and I was rushed to A&E.
"The doctors told me later that if I'd arrived an hour later, I wouldn't have made it. I was one hour away from dying and I actually had sepsis." Dubai
Initially, doctors didn't notice the ankle bites but when they discovered them, they identified the bites as the entry points for life-threatening bacteria after they had been scratched open.
Sharon said: "By me scratching [the mosquito bite] and drawing blood on it, I opened it up.
"Then I allowed bacteria to get into it.
"They said, probably from going swimming in a swimming pool with these bites open, I let e-coli or some bacteria into my bloodstream. It was a nightmare."
Ireland's Health Service Executive (HSE) has advised travellers to countries that may have insects which carry serious diseases to look into the risks associated with any area you are going to, check whether you need a vaccine and also to speak to your GP, particularly if you are going to a part of the world where mosquitos are common.
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