Carbon monoxide 'holiday threat'

Christi and Bobby Shepherd died on the Greek holiday island of Corfu

Holidaymakers should pack an audible carbon monoxide alarm when they travel, according to a new health awareness campaign.

The groups warn that hotel rooms, holiday homes or caravans - in the UK or abroad - are all potentially unsafe.

Exposure to high carbon monoxide levels causes more than 50 accidental deaths a year in England and Wales, and there have been a number of deaths overseas.

The advice is from CO Awareness and the Health Protection Agency North West.

CO Awareness President Lynn Griffiths said: "There have been a number of tragedies and numerous near-misses in this country and abroad in recent years.

"Audible CO alarms can be purchased comparatively cheaply from most hardware and electrical stores and from the larger supermarket chains.

If you do not have an alarm, it is unlikely you will know that you are being poisoned Professor Qutub Syed HPA North West

"They are small and unobtrusive and will easily pack into a suitcase. It is a small investment to make but it could pay a rich dividend."

Professor Qutub Syed, Director, HPA North West, said: "In small spaces such as hotel rooms, caravans, boats and rented houses and cottages, levels of carbon monoxide produced by faulty, poorly maintained or poorly ventilated fossil fuel appliances can build up very quickly to levels that can kill.

"It happens all too regularly and our appeal to people planning their holidays is, don't let it happen to you.

"If you do not have an alarm, it is unlikely you will know that you are being poisoned by this lethal gas as carbon monoxide is colourless and has no taste or smell."

Prof Syed added that even at lower levels, carbon monoxide can produce symptoms similar to flu or food poisoning, including headaches and tiredness.

Oxygen-starved organs

In one high-profile case in October 2006, Christi Shepherd, seven, and her six-year-old brother Robert, of Horbury, West Yorkshire, died of carbon monoxide poisoning while on holiday in Corfu, Greece.

Their father Neil, who survived, suffered permanent brain damage resulting in short-term memory loss.

The children, their father and his partner Ruth Beatson - who also survived - were staying in a bungalow at a hotel when they were overcome by fumes from a faulty gas-fired water heater.

Carbon monoxide (CO) is produced when fossil fuels burn without enough air, usually as a result of poor maintenance of central heating boilers and appliances such as Liquefied Petroleum Gas, or kerosene-powered fridges, heaters or cookers.

It also becomes a major problem when flues become blocked.

Carbon monoxide poisoning reduces the ability of blood to carry oxygen, and as a result starves vital organs of oxygen.

The symptoms worsen as more carbon monoxide is breathed in and CO concentrations in the blood increase.