A woman often dubbed the 'world's hottest scientist' has revealed the brutal symptoms she's experienced after contracting a potentially 'deadly' infection while travelling.
Getting sick while abroad is a sure way to derail an otherwise enjoyable holiday, with various precautions and vaccinations being recommended for travelling to far flung destinations.
Unfortunately getting ill is not always avoidable, which is something ecologist Rosie Moore discovered while on vacation in South America.
Advert
Sharing the update with her followers on Instagram, Moore revealed to her 192k followers that she had been suffering from dengue fever last month.
Transmitted from the bite of an infected mosquito, dengue fever is a viral infection which is found in tropical and sub-tropical climates around the world, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO).
Although most cases are usually mild, severe cases of dengue can lead to death.
Symptoms include severe headache, pain behind the eyes, rashes, swollen glands, nausea and vomiting. Around 100–400 million infections of dengue fever occur every year.
Advert
In the clip, Moore explained that she'd discovered multiple 'bug bites' early on into her travels but hadn't started to feel unwell as dengue fever usually 'takes a few days' to set in.
Moore went on to reveal the first symptom she experienced was 'extreme eye pain' which was followed by an extreme fever several days later.
"My fever was so high that I genuinely could not get out of bed and I was trying to cool myself down by any means possible," she added.
"I was just downing Tylenol like no other."
Advert
Once she returned to the US, Moore went to get tested after coming out in a painful rash - with doctors later confirming that she had dengue.
She went to explain in the caption that there is 'no specific treatment for dengue', but reassured her followers the majority of cases were 'less severe'.
Just in case you needed a reminder of the importance of keeping mosquito repellent handy while on holiday.
Moore also revealed that she'd been hesitant about sharing her experience with dengue as she didn't want to discourage adventurous travellers from visiting more remote parts of the globe.
"I was hesitant to share this because I feel like so many people are scared to travel to more remote places, but the trip was so worth it, and I would encourage anyone to get out there and see more remote places of the world," she wrote.
Advert
Moore's followers were quick to share their own experiences with dengue in the comments, with one person writing: "Exactly how it felt! You don’t realise until three days in when you’re like 'okay this rash isn’t just bug bites'."
"When I take a really hot shower the rash scarring from dengue still shows up on my feet. Weird disease," a second person commented, while a third added the virus had caused them to experience hair loss.
Brenna Cooper