Holiday illnesses reflect poor hygiene
Every summer tens of thousands of Brits travel abroad on holidays expecting sun, sand and sea. But a worryingly large number pick up serious illnesses that personal injury lawyers claim are due to poor hygiene at these continental resorts.
A major area of concern is food hygiene. Recently a spate of food related compensation claims have hit the headlines after British travelers were made seriously ill by ill-prepared meat and badly unhygienic kitchen conditions.
Illnesses lead to ruined trips
One family, whose young daughter was struck down with Salmonella at a Turkish resort have spoken out furiously against the hotel and also the travel operator that they say, failed to adequately monitor hygiene standards after previous outbreaks.
"Despite salmonella being confirmed for the past four years, the tour operator First Choice has allowed people to travel there and now, once again, we are seeing large numbers of guests struck down with Salmonella food poisoning.
"So far this summer, we have begun legal action for over 140 guests but, from previous experience of claims at this hotel and many others, we fear this is just the tip of the iceberg,” said lawyer, Clive Garner.
Another lawyer who is helping claimants in the case said that he had been “inundated” by calls from holidaymakers who had returned from the hotel complaining of serious food poisoning.
He said that the sheer number of cases reflected the extremely high numbers of people who can be accommodated in the resort at the high point of the season, and that he wasn’t surprised by the numbers.
“The complex can accommodate 3,000 to 4,000 people in high season, almost all of them on all-inclusive deals. This means any problems with food or water affects hundreds of people,” said lawyer, Andrew Morton.
Morton noted that this was not the first problems he had seen at the resort and said that last year also saw numerous complaints made by tourists who came down with food poisoning while staying at the complex.
“We had more than 800 cases of complaints against tour operators who sent clients to this complex last year. Unbelievably, we are beginning to see the same problems reoccur as people return from their summer break this year,” he added.
Salmonella is one of the most common causes of holiday personal injuries but it is not the only consequence of poor hygiene by staff.
E. coli, an extremely serious food-borne illness, has also claimed a number of victims this year. The pathogen can lead to dire results for those affected, with serious and lengthy illness a real possibility.
A recent case highlighted the potential dangers of E. coli when a British man was awarded three-quarters of a million pounds in compensation after he was struck down by the bug after eating a contaminated hamburger.
The man was staying at a resort in Sharm El Sheikh when he ate the burger. According to his lawyer, he suffered for “weeks” of serious pain.
The affect of the illness left him unable to work at the power station Sellafield. He also requires dialysis three times a week.
Updated on 9/13/2009