A WOMAN feared for her life after a severe bout of “Aussie flu” left her unable to stand.

Jade Dodd, 27, from Peacehaven, was laid low by the vicious bug for two weeks she describes as “the worst of my life”.

The H3N2 virus has swept through Sussex in recent weeks, prompting a rash of reports complaining of similar symptoms.

“I’ve had flu once before, but this was a whole other level,” Miss Dodd told The Argus.

“You can hardly move and everything just hits you at once. I thought I was going to die.”

She said she could not even get out of bed without breaking into a sweat, more than a week after she first fell ill.

After her body temperature plummeted she went to see a doctor, who sent her for blood tests.

The diagnosis paved the way for four consecutive days of high temperature.

She said: “I felt as if I was sitting in a sauna with a terrible hangover.

“My throat hurt so badly that it hurt to swallow.

“I felt lifeless, with no energy. I couldn’t even stand to watch TV. It’s so intense for so long that you think it’s never going to end.”

Meanwhile a Hailsham woman died over Christmas after contracting an infection closely resembling Aussie flu.

Melanie Coombs, 56, had survived cancer on three separate occasions, only to succumb to a bug believed by her son to be the H3N2 strain.

And a woman from Brighton, who did not wish to be named, told The Argus she had not been able to eat a full meal for three days because of the illness.

But health officials have played down the risk posed by H3N2.

Professor Paul Cosford, Public Health England medical director, said: “As we would expect at this time of year, flu levels have increased this week. The vaccine is the best defence we have against the spread of flu and it isn’t too late to get vaccinated.”

The Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals Trust recorded 17 cases of A strain for the week ending December 31.