A British Airways stewardess has died after catching malaria
while working on a long-haul flight from Heathrow to the Ghanaian capital of
Accra.
The unnamed woman is understood to have been staying at a
hotel in Accra when she began showing symptoms of the deadly disease.
Spread by mosquitoes, the parasite attacks the liver and red
blood cells and can be fatal if it is not treated quickly. Symptoms include a
fever, sweats and chills, a headache, vomiting, muscle pains and diarrhoea. The
signs begin showing between seven and 18 days after a person is infected.
Most fatalities in the UK are caused by the Plasmodium
falciparum species of the parasite, which is predominant in sub-Saharan Africa.
The airline has launched an internal investigation into how
the woman caught the disease, The Mirror reported.
BA told The Independent: "We
were deeply saddened to hear of the death of our colleague. Our thoughts are
with her friends and family at this difficult time."
She added that all BA staff are given “top strength
repellent”, access to anti-malarial tablets and medical advice before flying to
at-risk countries.
The firm also checks hotels and transportation to minimise
the chance of contact with mosquitoes, she added.
British Airways employees around 40,000 people, most of whom
work in the UK, and flies around 35million passengers around the world each
year.
The incident comes six years after a BA steward died after
catching the most deadly strain of malaria after also working on a flight from
Heathrow to Ghana.
Source:www.independent.co.uk
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