An Aussie’s trip to Japan turned into a nightmare on her final night after she was struck down with a life-threatening bacterial infection and fell into a three-day coma.

Anna Gallo, 24, became delirious and was sent to Tokyo’s National Center for Global Health and Medicine on February 5, where doctors diagnosed her with a meningococcal B infection, which had escalated into meningitis and septic shock.

She was vaccinated against meningococcal disease when she was in school, but not the B strain, which is rare in Japan.

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The Gold Coast woman said she remembered playing Mario Kart, having dinner with her boyfriend Liam McDonald and going to bed feeling fine before waking up freezing.

‘I woke up in the middle of the night with my whole body aggressively shaking,’ Ms Gallo said.

‘I’d never shivered so much or felt so cold.’

She took a paracetamol suspecting she had a fever, but started vomiting a strange-looking substance before fainting in the bathroom.

‘The colour of it was black, which was quite concerning,’ she said.

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A dream Japan trip has turned into a nightmare for a young Aussie after being struck down with meningitis and falling into a three-day coma during her final night overseas

‘My whole body felt weak and fragile.’

The young Queensland couple, thinking it was just a case of food poisoning, decided to take their scheduled flight home when ‘little red mosquito bite-looking’ rashes spread all over Ms Gallo’s body, causing intense pain.

It turned out to be meningitis and septic shock, which is when the body’s response to infection causes organ failure.

Ms Gallo was placed on a ventilator and put in a medically induced coma, with Mr McDonald by her side the whole time.

‘It was the worst few days of my life,’ he said.

‘The doctors told us that if we had waited even two more hours to get her to hospital, she wouldn’t have made it.’

Mr McDonald kept Ms Gallo’s parents updated as they booked flights to be with their daughter, and when they asked whether she would survive, her doctors weren’t sure.

‘The doctor told us her blood pressure was now dangerously low, she’d had a blood transfusion, and she needed to be intubated,’ Ms Gallo’s mother Ghis told the ABC.

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‘Little red mosquito bite’ looking rashes spread all over Ms Gallo’s body causing intense pain

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Ms Gallo is now recovering at Gold Coast University Hospital

When they arrived, they were told Ms Gallo might not survive and even if she did, permanent brain damage was likely.

But she was ‘she was sitting in bed with her eyes open and the tube was out’ the following day.

Ms Gallo is now recovering at Gold Coast University Hospital (GCUH) and said she couldn’t have been looked after any better.

‘All the doctors and nurses in Japan were incredible, but it was such a relief to be able to speak English again when I got back to Australia,’ she said.

‘The nurses at GCUH have been so lovely, kind and gentle.’

While Meningococcal C vaccines have been free in Queensland since 2003, and the A, C, W and Y vaccines free since 2017, the government only made the B vaccine free in 2024.

Although Ms Gallo wasn’t vaccinated with the B strain, she encouraged others to do what she didn’t.

‘I’d encourage everyone to learn about the vaccinations available to protect them and their families, whether or not they’re on the government schedule,’ she said.

‘And if you’re planning to travel, make sure you research ahead and get immunised.’