Wendy Waite, 47, from Devizes, Wiltshire, caught the bug in the run-up to Christmas
A grandmother struck down with Aussie flu has revealed the killer virus circulating the UK has left her on the brink of suicide.
Wendy Waite, 47, from Devizes, Wiltshire, caught the bug in the run-up to Christmas - but is still suffering from its brutal side effects.
Speaking exclusively to MailOnline, the shop worker, who has nine grandchildren, described it as the 'worst illness I have ever had'.
Mrs Waite claims her three-week battle with Aussie flu has left her with hallucinations and migraines so painful that she feels like 'screaming'.
The pain also left her unable to walk up her own stairs - forcing her to crawl, and she became reliant on her husband lifting her in and out of the bath.
She said: 'I did say to my hubby one night if there was an injection to end me off right now think I would do it.
'But I have four children and nine grandchildren and a smashing hubby so it was just a spur of the moment madness.
'Bu that's how much pain you are in to even say such a stupid thing.'
Mrs Waite added: 'You would not understand how hard it really is to get over and how evil and painful it really is.'
Tests have yet to confirm if Mrs Waite has been infected with the H3N2 strain of flu, which is more commonly referred to as influenza A.
The rapid spread of a strain of influenza B which is not covered in a vaccine given to the elderly, known as B/Yamagata, has raised concerns.
But Professor Horby added: 'The current B virus that’s dominant is not included in the standard vaccine this year – the one given to children.
'The one that’s circulating currently is not in the trivalent vaccine but influenza A is in the vaccine, that’s why people at higher risk should get some protection.'
When asked how bad this year's outbreak is likely to be, he said: 'It’s difficult to say [this year] because it’s a mixed bag of viruses, we’ve got H3N2 and B both circulating and causing quite a number of cases each.'
It comes after an bed-ridden actress, from Harrogate, revealed she cries every day and is left 'writhing in pain' after catching killer 'Aussie flu'.
Julia Stringer, who has appeared in several programmes on BBC, ITV and Channel 4, described the agony as being like childbirth.
The 42-year-old's comments came as a leading virologist predicted another cold snap will fuel the spread of H3N2 and 'kick cases into another orbit'.Professor John Oxford, of Queen Mary University in London, exclusively warned that the killer virus spreads much easier when temperatures plummet.
Forecasters believe the weather will continue as it is currently for the next few days - forcing adults to flock indoors and be surrounded by others.
This leaves them susceptible to catching H3N2 or another type of the deadly virus that is currently active.
Professor Oxford also revealed he is keeping his 'fingers crossed' as he fears the current epidemic in France could replicate itself in Britain.
The European country has been rocked by an 'exceptional' outbreak, with nearly 12,000 people having been left hospitalised and more than 30 dead.
Figures show the UK is heading the same way, with scientists concerned the flu causing havoc on the over-stretched NHS is 'unpredictable'.
The Ministry of Health in France issued an alert about flu earlier this week, warning that the outbreak has still yet to reach its peak.
It read: 'The influenza epidemic is of an exceptional magnitude, by the number of cases, which risks exceeding those of the last two years.'
REVEALED: THE 2009 SWINE FLU TIMELINE IN THE UK
APRIL 24 2009: The Health Protection Agency says it is monitoring a deadly swine flu outbreak in Mexico and the United States after more than 60 people worldwide die after contracting the virus.
APRIL 26: Iain and Dawn Askham, of Polmont, near Falkirk, confirmed as the first UK cases of swine flu after returning from their honeymoon in Mexico.
JUNE 11: The World Health Organisation announces the swine flu outbreak is now a pandemic.
JUNE 14: Jacqui Fleming, 38, of Glasgow, becomes the first person in the UK to die after contracting the virus. Mrs Fleming died two weeks after her son, Jack, was born 11 weeks prematurely. He died on June 15 - but not from swine flu.
JULY 2: The UK moves past the stage of containing the swine flu outbreak and into the 'treatment phase', with hundreds of cases recorded every day.
JULY 9: The Government's chief medical officer, Sir Liam Donaldson, confirms 14 people in the UK have now died after contracting swine flu.
JULY 10: A hospital patient from Essex becomes the first person without underlying health problems to die after contracting swine flu.
JULY 23: New swine flu website receives 2,600 hits per second and crashes within minutes of launching.
SEPTEMBER 3: Government scientists revise estimate of the number of people in the UK who could die to a 'worst case scenario' of 19,000, down from the estimate of 65,000 two months earlier.
OCTOBER 21: Mass swine flu immunisation programme gets under way.
OCTOBER 25: A hard-hitting Government advertising campaign about how easily swine flu can spread, using the slogan Catch It, Kill It, Bin It, is announced.
NOVEMBER 19: Plans to vaccinate more than three million healthy under-fives are revealed
DECEMBER 10: Sir Liam Donaldson says the pandemic is 'considerably less lethal; than feared, with 26 deaths for every 100,000 cases in England.
JANUARY 8 2010: The number of new cases in the UK falls significantly, to fewer than 5,000 new cases in a week, but the death toll rises to 360.
MARCH 18: New figures reveal there have been 457 deaths in the UK since the pandemic began.
MARCH 25: An independent review of the UK response to swine flu is announced, headed by former Welsh Chief Medical Officer Dame Deirdre Hine, which will make recommendations about what should be done in the event of future flu pandemics.
The rocketing cases prompted Marisol Touraine, the country's health minister, to delay non-urgent operations to free up hospital beds.This controversial move was mirrored by Jeremy Hunt last week, with the NHS having being plunged into chaos amid a spike in flu cases.
Mr Hunt, made Health and Social Secretary in Prime Minister Theresa May's cabinet reshuffle yesterday, made the unprecedented decision to cancel 55,000 operations.
Experts have already warned of a 'double-whammy' of new cases, as kids head back to school and swarms of travellers return from flu-hit France.
No areas of the UK are believed to be free of the potentially fatal bug, which has forced GPs to cancel holidays and work late into the night.
Figures released yesterday show cases of the contagious virus have soared by 70 per cent in a week - with 2,810 new people struck down in the last seven days.
This winter's outbreak appears to be nine times more severe than that of 2015/16 - when just 296 cases of flu had been recorded at the same point.
During that winter, Government figures suggested the winter flu played a role in more than 16,000 deaths. Only 577 were recorded in the previous winter.
However, this winter's outbreak shows no signs of slowing down, as flu cases are expected to rocket even further in the coming weeks.
Nearly 50 people have already been killed by the bug this year and at least 1,078 people have been hospitalised - 252 of which were caused by the 'Aussie flu' strain.
CASES OF INFLUENZA
Statistics from Public Health England reveal how many people were infected during week 1 of the previous four winters.
2018
Influenza A
Influenza B
Ungrouped
Total
2017
Influenza A
Influenza B
Ungrouped
Total
2016
Influenza A
Influenza B
Ungrouped
Total
2015
Influenza A
Influenza B
Ungrouped
Total