Couple's warning about ease of spreading Australian flu

A couple who have been laid up with Aussie flu for four weeks have warned others not to spread the deadly virus.
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Flu symptoms

Stuart McCallum, 50, had not even had a cold for 30 years when he went out for a drink with a pal before Christmas.

“He was later struck down with Aussie flu so I must have caught it off him. The past four weeks have been hell - I have honestly never felt so ill in my life,” he said.

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Stuart’s wife, 52-year-old shop worker Aisha, then rapidly developed the bug.

She was so poorly that she has spent the past 20 days bedbound. barely able to move.

“It wipes you out completely. You feel weak, fatigued and you can’t do anything. I don’t even have the strength to take our dog out,” said Stuart, who lives at Loughton in Essex.

“After a week or so you think you’re feeling better then, bang, the virus mutates and strikes again. It is truly evil.”

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What worries the McCallums is the ease in which Aussie Flu is spread.

Over Christmas, during their brief period of feeling less ill, they came into contact with six people.

All six have now developed Aussie flu.

“If it spreads at this rate we’re heading for a real epidemic in Milton Keynes,” said Stuart.

“I just want to warn people who think they have it to stay indoors, wash their hands and keep the germs to themselves so they don’t pass it on.”

The McCallums’ illness started with wheeziness, then spread to a fever, shivers and sinus problems. Their doctor has confirmed it is the H3N2 virus and not an infection.

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