B Wallace v Thomas Cook

The claimant, who was aged 12 at the date of onset of the illness and 16 at the date of the approval hearing, suffered an acute gastrointestinal illness, including symptoms of fever, diarrhoea, abdominal pain and vomiting, during and after a holiday to Egypt in September 2012.

The claimant’s symptoms started on 21 September. She experienced symptoms of diarrhoea, abdominal pain and, later, vomiting. Her appetite became very poor and she was unable to eat. Her symptoms were so severe that she remained largely confined to her bedroom for a period of three days.

The claimant returned to the UK on 28 September. At this point she had started to improve. Her symptoms of gastroenteritis persisted from 21 September until 21 October, a period of around 30 days or so. There was no recurrence of her symptoms and none is expected in the future.

The medical expert advised that the claimant developed infective protozoal gastroenteritis while on holiday in Egypt. It was likely that the gastroenteritis resulted from ingesting water from the hotel swimming pool or from food or drink which had become contaminated as a result of poor standards of hygiene at the hotel.

Source – Lexis Nexis