A man who died three months after being diagnosed with stomach cancer might have developed the disease from a deadly bug during a gap year in India 20 years earlier, his mother has claimed.
Zak Wilcox, who was just 40 when he passed away in 2021, backpacked across the country at 19.
But in in the last week of his trip, he suffered sickness and diarrhoea that lasted for three weeks.
At the time, he believed he had suffered a stomach bug caused by eating food that was washed in tap water, which is not fit for drinking.
His mother, Rebecca Wilcox, believes he was infected with the bacteria Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori), which is known to increase the risk of stomach cancer.
Zak Wilcox (pictured), who was just 40 when he passed away in 2021, backpacked across India at 19. But in in the last week of his trip, he suffered sickness and diarrhoea that lasted for three weeks. At the time, he believed he had suffered a stomach bug caused by eating food that was washed in tap water, which is not fit for drinking
His mother, Rebecca Wilcox, believes he was infected with the bacteria Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori), which is known to increase the risk of stomach cancer
Ms Wilcox has since started a campaign to raise awareness about a £7 test that can detect H. pylori — believing it triggered her son’s cancer. But there is no proof that he did have the bug. For those currently suffering with symptoms of the bacterial infection, the test is available for free on the NHS
She told The Mirror: ‘If he had known he should have taken a test for Helicobacter pylori on his return from a gap year trip to India, where over 80 per cent of the population carry this bug, he would still be here today.
‘The bug bores away into the lining of the stomach for years, sometimes decades, before it becomes fatal.’
H. pylori is a type of bacteria that infects the lining of the stomach.
Spread through contaminated food and water, it normally infects people during childhood.
However, the infection — which causes a stomach ache, nausea and loss of appetite — is no longer common in Britain, according to Cancer Research UK.
If a person is worried they are infected, they can speak to their doctor.
Treatment consists of a one-week course of three different tablets, two of which are antibiotics whilst the third is a tablet to cut down the amount of acid in the stomach.
For most people, it causes no problems.
But in around a tenth of people, it can cause a range of stomach conditions, including long-term severe acid reflux, inflammation of the stomach lining (gastritis) and peptic ulcers.
And one to three per cent of those infected go on to develop stomach cancer, according to Cancer Research UK.
Other factors, such as smoking and diet, can increase the risk of H. pylori leading to cancer, it says.
Symptoms of stomach cancer can be so mild people pass them off as persistent indigestion.
After Mr Wilcox moved back in with his mum in 2015, he began complaining of indigestion with foods — including crumpets — he had never previously had any issues with, Ms Wilcox claimed.
When he began suffering more serious stomach pain in September 2020, he visited his GP twice before he was scheduled for an endoscopy in January 2021.
But by November, the pain had become so severe he was rushed to hospital, where scans later revealed he had stomach cancer and was given between just two and five months to live.
Ms Wilcox said: ‘Hearing he had cancer hit me in the gut with a baseball bat. I couldn’t believe it — he was apparently fit and healthy, had a good diet, and only drank socially. It was terrible.’
In January, Mr Wilcox underwent surgery to remove his stomach. While his family believed the surgery to be successful, he died on March 9.
Ms Wilcox has since started a campaign to raise awareness about a £7 test that can detect H. pylori — believing it triggered her son’s cancer.
But there is no proof that he did have the bug.
For those currently suffering with symptoms of the bacterial infection, the test is available for free on the NHS.
Ms Wilcox told the Mirror: ‘I know a test could have saved him. It’s a reasonable test with antibiotics to treat it.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has also named aggressive strains of H. pylori among the most dangerous superbugs, posing a big threat to the human race. It has named aggressive strains of H. pylori – heavily linked to peptic ulcers and gastric cancer – among the most dangerous. Pictured, a digital illustration of Helicobacter pylori
Coloured transmission electron micrograph (TEM) of a section of the surface of a human stomach infected with Helicobacter pylori bacteria (red). Colonies of H. pylori are found in the mucus lining of the stomach. They cause gastritis, and are also the most common cause of stomach ulcers
‘They [Government and agencies] aren’t warning about it in advice for travellers. This bug slowly eats away at the stomach and buries into the lining, it doesn’t like stomach acid, so you might not know you have it.’
For more information on the petition, visit Change.org here.
Around 6,500 cases of stomach cancer are diagnosed in the UK each year, while the disease is responsible for more than 4,200 deaths annually, the charity says.
The American Cancer Society estimates around 26,500 new cases of stomach cancer will be diagnosed in the US in 2023 and just over 11,000 deaths from this type of cancer will be recorded.
Research has also shown around 90 per cent of non-cardia gastric cancer — a tumour in the main part of the stomach — is caused by H. pylori infection.
In recent years, H. pylori antibiotic resistance has become a prominent and urgent issue across the globe.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has named aggressive strains of H. pylori among the most dangerous superbugs, posing a big threat to the human race.
Read More: World News | Entertainment News | Celeb News
