Latham Tourist Calls Dominican Trip “Vacation From Hell”

The Dominican Republic has been all over the news after multiple tourists have died, and News Channel 13 is telling the story of a Latham woman who got sick while vacationing there.

You have seen several stories at this point about tourists getting seriously ill and dying at various resorts in the Dominican Republic, to such an extent the FBI is investigating the situation. And the Capital Region has not been immune to the problems at the popular vacation destination.

According to WNYT, Rena Ost of Latham described her April trip to the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Punta Cana as the '"vacation from hell." While there Rena got very ill, suffering from diarrhea, vomiting and other symptoms. The WNYT report also says a 13 year old travelling Rena had to be treated for bug bites, but was initially mis-diagnosed with the chicken pox. Rena told WNYT the stories coming out of the Dominican Republic have caused her to rethink her experience, which left Rena questioning the expertise of the medical staff she dealt with.

I think tourists seriously need answers from the investigation as to what is going on in the Dominican. CNN is reporting the 9 reported deaths are not connected and the island is still deemed safe, but something is amiss here. That many deaths in a short period of time is definitely an anomaly, and I think any number of travelers passing away would make a tourist feel uncomfortable visiting the island. Let's hope that nothing suspicious is going on and these are all a coincidence, but at this point it just does not add up.