Lindsay Lohan
Lohan was treated by medics after contracting a rare virus following a trip to Bora Bora. Reuters

Most people bring back a souvenir or a nice olive tan from their travels, but Lindsay Lohan wasn't so lucky.

The Hollywood actress was hospitalised after contacting Chikungunya, a rare virus transmitted by mosquito bites, during a recent trip to Bora Bora island.

According to TMZ, Lohan, 28, checked into London's King Edward VII's Hospital with a high fever and joint pain.

"She could hardly stand up. She was in so much pain," a source told the Daily News. "But she's in a great hospital now. It's the one recommended by the Queen," the source said, adding that Lohan was recently in Los Angeles shooting a commercial for Esurance.

The Mean Girls star first revealed her diagnosis on Instagram by sharing a snap of herself on a jet ski with the caption: "Before I got chikungunya".

She later added, "Being sick is no fun... In good faith with good people. I refuse to let a virus affect my peaceful vacation. Be safe and happy on the new year all..."

Although Lohan, who moved to London in 2014, appeared to have bounced back from the illness earlier in January when she flew to Los Angeles, she suffered a relapse soon after.

"She was getting better, but with all the travelling, it wore her down, so the virus acted up again. It was like a relapse," the source close to Lohan told The News.

Lohan's health scare comes months after she made her West End debut in David Mamet's 1988 play Speed the Plow.

"I think you go through phases in life and you hit this wall where you kind of want to do something new and experience something different," she previously said of the new challenge "and I think I just am in a place now where it's the right time".