Hospital 'missed' Butlins woman's fatal illness

A WOMAN employee who died at the Butlins holiday centre, in Minehead, is thought to have contracted a fatal illness which went unnoticed by hospital doctors.
Colleagues of Alexandrea Toth, a 22-year-old Hungarian, found her dead in her bed at the holiday centre last week.
After complaining of feeling unwell the previous day, she went to hospital for checks but was sent back again because she started to feel better.
However, she died in her sleep during the night.
She is believed to have died from a bacterial infection known as group a streptococcus (GAS), which can be linked to meningitis.
It is a bacteria which many people carry in the throat and on their skin, and it can survive long enough to be passed to other people by sneezing, kissing, and skin contact.
Generally, it proves harmless, although in rare cases it causes serious illness and death if it reaches the bloodstream, muscle tissue, or lungs.
Symptoms include fever, aching muscles, localised tenderness of muscles, and redness or inflammation around wounds or open skin.
Medical advice for anybody suffering from such symptoms is to immediately contact their GP.
Other staff at Butlins were offered antibiotics as a precaution following Miss Toth’s death.
However, the Dorset and Somerset Health Protection Unit said staff and visitors at Butlins were not in any danger.
The unit’s director, Dr Sue Bennett, said it was a rare illness with as few as 15 cases a year in Somerset.
She thought it was unlikely to have spread to any friends or colleagues of Miss Toth.
Dr Bennett said: “We have informed the management of Butlins that this is an isolated event and represents no risks to the health of either staff or other guests.”
A spokesman for Butlins said it was a ‘rare and unforeseen tragedy’.
He said Miss Toth was well-liked by staff and her death had upset everybody at the centre.
“Alexandrea was a popular young lady with all members of staff and will be sadly missed,” he said. “We offer our condolences to her family.”