A nine-year-old West Australian boy has died after being bitten by a mosquito during a family holiday to the Philippines.
What started as an exciting holiday to see family for the first time since the pandemic quickly turned into a heartbreaking tragedy when dengue fever claimed the life of Year 3 student Glenn Pulgadas.
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Glenn started showing mild symptoms just two weeks before his health rapidly declined.
Now, his heartbroken parents want to warn other travellers.
The nine-year-old was suffering from a high fever, headaches, stomach pain, nose bleeds and vomiting.
The virus eventually caused his organs to fail, landing him in intensive care but he could not be saved.
Nine-year-old Glenn Pulgadas was excited to see family in the Philippines for the first time since the pandemic. Credit: 7NEWSGlenn is being remembered in the tight-knit community of Harvey as a caring, bright and bubbly boy who was full of life.
The youngster was “very lively, very outgoing, always smiling and laughing”, according to his priest Father Jess Navarra.
“Being a small town, we felt the impact right away,” he told 7NEWS.
“All of us are very sad,” a family friend told 7NEWS. “Glenn is not a friend for us, we treat him as our own son.”
His family is facing the grim task of laying to rest their only child overseas.
His primary school has organised a fundraiser to help his parents with the cost of the funeral and medical expenses.
The community so far has raised almost $12,000, his parents saying “thank you isn’t enough to express how grateful we are to have you as our family”.
Glenn started showing mild symptoms just two weeks before his health rapidly declined. Credit: 7NEWSProtect yourselfDengue fever is not prevalent in Australia but there have been outbreaks in North Queensland, with cases found in returning travellers. The virus is commonly found in tropical and sub-tropical countries in Africa, Asia and South America.
Popular holiday destinations like Bali are not exempt from the dangerous virus.
Glenn’s parents want other travellers to be aware of the deadly virus. Credit: 7NEWSInfections have skyrocketed from 2.3 million in 2010 to more than five million in less than a decade, according to the World Health Organisation.
There’s no treatment, only prevention – and Glenn’s parents want other travellers to be aware.
“There is a vaccine, but at present, it is only administered in 20 countries of the world where the disease is extremely endemic,” Curtin University international health expert Jaya Dantas told 7NEWS.
“You need to actually wear clothes where you won’t get bitten on the extremities, sleep under a mosquito net at all times, use a mosquito coil.”
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