Ebola nurse in UK may be rare case of relapse
LONDON — The World Health Organisation (WHO) says it’s possible in rare instances for patients who survived Ebola to develop the lethal disease again, when lingering virus in the body starts to replicate.
Ms Pauline Cafferkey, a nurse who contracted Ebola while working in Sierra Leone, smiles in the Royal Free Hospital in London. Photo: PA via AP
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LONDON — The World Health Organisation (WHO) says it’s possible in rare instances for patients who survived Ebola to develop the lethal disease again, when lingering virus in the body starts to replicate.
That might explain what has happened to a Scottish nurse now being treated in London’s Royal Free Hospital. Ms Pauline Cafferkey was admitted on Friday (Oct 9) for an “unusual late complication” of Ebola.
Yesterday, the hospital reported that she was being treated for Ebola without offering further details.
WHO spokeswoman Dr Margaret Harris says that the UN health agency has seen several cases of Ebola survivors who “for unknown reasons” began to start reproducing the virus and become ill. She said it’s unclear whether those people might then be infectious to others but that such cases have been very rare. AP
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