Student dies 'after malaria drug illness'

A Cambridge University student died after suffering a severe mental illness caused by anti-malarial tablets, her family said yesterday.

Vanessa Brunt, 22, disappeared last Thursday on the day she returned to her family home in Swansea, from hospital. She went for a walk, but did not return and was found the following day in a coma. She died shortly afterwards.

Vanessa's family, her mother Fortunee, father Michael and sister Estelle, released a statement yesterday saying that she was the victim of a severe mental illness caused by anti-malarial medication.

Vanessa took the prescribed course of tablets during a gap-year trip to South-east Asia in July 1999, which she had embarked upon after achieving three A grades in her A-levels.

Her family said she suffered an adverse reaction to the drug, which they have not named, and became ill. "She took a prescribed anti-malarial medication, which is known in a small proportion of cases to cause severe mental illness," the family said. "Vanessa was unfortunately one of that small proportion of victims."

Despite her illness, Vanessa began her course in English and French law at Peterhouse College, Cambridge, in 1999.

"Although her work was of a very high standard, she was not able to return for a second term," the family said. "She intended to return when she was better." She suffered a relapse in June last year and was admitted to hospital. When she returned home last week, she had hoped to resume her studies.