Sydney woman spends eight days in Bali hospital after catching dengue fever

An Aussie traveller has opened up about how her tropical getaway to Indonesia turned into a nightmare after she was struck down with dengue fever.

Marley, a 24-year-old from Sydney, has only just returned to Australia following eight days in an Indonesian hospital after catching the illness while holidaying on the resort island of Gili Trawangan.

Dengue fever is a mosquito-borne viral infection that infects 100-400 million people every year in tropical and subtropical areas. 

Marley said she suffered terrible fevers, had bloodshot eyes and even started to bleed on her gums. 

'I had a lot of body aches, my joints were really sore which was weird. And then I was sweating but really cold, which was crazy,' the solo traveller told Yahoo News.

With the sickness coming in 'waves' doctors told Marley she needed to be transferred to a better medically-equipped hospital in Bali.

She was then transported by an ambulance boat which was fortunately covered by her travel insurance.

'It was very scary,' Marley said.

'I have never been in an ambulance or anything before, I haven't really had any health problems when I've been overseas.'

However, the brave Aussie said she had no other option than to remain 'calm' even as she suffered severe dehydration and a drop in her white blood cell count.

She said she 'wouldn't wish' the illness on anyone. 

Although Marley received a immunisation shot against the disease before going to Indonesia, she said she wasn't vigilant enough with using insect repellant.

There has been a drastic increase in reported cases of dengue fever in Indonesia, with Bali's Bangli Regency region up 65 percent compared with this time last year. 

Travellers have been flooding social media with their own stories of intense pain, uncontrollable vomiting and temperatures above 39C.

'I went in March and got it on my 30th birthday,' a Sydney woman shared.

'It was horrific, don't wish it upon anybody. The worst part is the fever and body aches.'

Another said: 'Got home to Darwin, same day the fever and full body rash started.'

'Off the plane, straight to hospital infectious disease isolation ward until they worked it out.'

According to the World Health Organisation, most people recover in one or two weeks but in severe cases it can be fatal.