A British nurse who was successfully treated in January after contracting Ebola in Sierra Leone was in a serious condition in hospital Friday due to rare late complications with the virus.
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Dr Emilia Crighton, director of public health at the Scottish health board, said there was a “very low” risk of the infection being passed on, but a few of the people Ms Cafferkey had come into contact with would be followed up.
The Daily Mail says the Health Secretary, Jeremy Hunt, has tweeted his support, saying: “Thoughts with Pauline Cafferkey today as she battles Ebola for the second time”.
“The risk of transmission from these individuals appears to be very low”, he said.
The nurse, Pauline Cafferkey was flown from her home in Scotland to London early on Friday by a military aircraft.
She admitted afterwards that she had felt like “giving up” as her condition became critical.
Pauline had joined fellow Ebola survivor Corporal Anna Cross on stage in accepting a Special Recognition award on behalf of the thousands of British volunteers who fought the disease in Sierra Leone.
But less than two months after being discharged, Crozier started experiencing problems with his vision, and doctors were stunned to find traces of the virus in fluid from his eye.
After becoming infected, it emerged that Ms Cafferkey’s temperature had been tested seven times before she flew from Heathrow to Glasgow in December.
“We have been assured that her illness can not be spread through ordinary social contact, and we have reassured parents and carers of this”.
A World Health Organization team went to Kenema, Sierra Leone, a year ago to assess Ebola survivors who had a range of symptoms.
Officials said that the she was transferred in a highly precautionary process.
Dr. Aneesh Mehta, who is part of a team of doctors at Emory University that treated four Ebola patients during the recent outbreak, says Cafferkey’s readmission to the isolation unit is puzzling.
Last week marked the first without any new reported cases of the virus since March 2014.
“Ebola can persist for weeks or even months in breastmilk, semen and the fluid inside the eyeball”. There was so much virus present, that it changed the color of Krozier’s eye from bright blue to green.
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Since Pauline has recovered from the virus once, the chances are that she will do so again.
