Cheryl Cole has been diagnosed with Malaria and close friend Derek Hough was said to be devastated last night – after blaming himself as she lay seriously ill in hospital battling malaria.

The dancer is distraught after being told that she caught the deadly disease while on a vacation he arranged. Doctors believe Cheryl was bitten by a mosquito in Tanzania where she and Derek spent six days together last month.

“He’s mortified by what’s happened and is utterly devastated at what she’s going through – not least because it happened on a trip he’d planned.”

Derek, 25, has been at the Geordie singer’s bedside since she was admitted to London’s private Cromwell hospital on Sunday evening.

Cheryl was diagnosed with malaria when she went for testing after she collapsed at a photo-shoot on Saturday.

Friends say she had been feeling unwell for several days, with symptoms including nausea and a soaring temperature. An insider said,

“She just got worse and worse after Saturday and was taken in by her worried management team as it became clear she wasn’t getting any better.

She really is quite poorly but at least the results came back quickly so the doctors can focus on giving her the right treatment.

She had been taking malaria tablets regularly while on holiday and continued to take them even after she returned, but she still tested positive for it.”

Cheryl is expected to remain hospitalized for at least three nights while she is treated for the disease, which kills between one and three million people a year, mainly in Africa.

Here’s wishing Cheryl a speedy recovery!

source: Cheryl Cole seriously ill in hospital with killer disease Malaria [mirror]