Warning about secondary illness linked to campylobacter

Havelock North's Kerry Mackintosh, 53, has been admitted to hospital for Guillain-Barre syndrome, a rare secondary illness related to campylobacter. Photo / Warren Buckland

Sitting in a hospital bed at Hawke's Bay Hospital, Havelock North's Kerry Mackintosh wriggles her toes to prove the feeling is coming back.

The 53-year-old lost it 20 days after she had campylobacter.

Loss of feeling, or paralysis, is just one symptom of Guillain-Barre syndrome, a complication of a severe campylobacter infection which attacks the body's immune system.

I thought it might be helpful to all those who have been ill recently ... I hope this will help ensure that if they develop symptoms they will see their GP quickly.

Kerry Mackintosh

The timing of Mrs Mackintosh's illness is not related to this latest outbreak, but she was determined to inform people about the secondary illness that may emerge later down the track.

"I was just thinking, so many children have been affected and they can develop the syndrome too. I thought it might be helpful to all those who have been ill recently ... I hope this will help ensure that if they develop symptoms they will see their GP quickly and receive treatment earlier which leads to a better outcome." She also developed reactive arthritis from the illness.

"There's a window of opportunity that you've got, particularly when you start feeling the tingly fingers," she said, before the condition deteriorated and became potentially life threatening.

Mrs Mackintosh was bedridden with the campylobacter, and she thinks a possible wave of secondary infections could be on its way after more than 4000 people in Havelock North were hit by campylobacter during the past week.

The Te Mata Rd resident was taken to hospital at 2am on Friday morning after she lost control of her limbs and her heart started beating rapidly.

"It's basically your immune system in overdrive."

She started to develop extreme muscle weakness, tendon reflex issues and joint pain - eventually paralysis of the eye muscles and breathing difficulties, too. Once admitted to hospital she had a lumbar puncture to diagnose the illness.

Mrs Mackintosh said her experience of campylobacter had been in line with what others were reporting from this latest outbreak.

Initially convinced her illness had been caused by food she had eaten just hours before falling ill, a doctor confirmed test results showed the incubation period was too short for it to have been caused by the food, by which time the contaminated water saga had erupted.

She urged anyone who may have had similar symptoms to ensure their doctor knew they'd had campylobacter. "I'm not saying it's been downplayed, I'm just saying I don't think the extent of it is known yet."

Hastings Mayor Lawrence Yule said at a meeting late last week that a secondary illness could come from campylobacter, but not much had been said about what that illness was.