UK nurse with Ebola ‘critically ill’ as condition worsens

Pauline Cafferkey (39) being treated in London after ‘unusual late complication’

A nurse who is being treated for a late complication of an Ebola infection is now “critically ill” after her condition deteriorated, the hospital treating her has said.

Pauline Cafferkey (39) was admitted to the isolation unit at the Royal Free Hospital in London on Friday after becoming unwell in Glasgow.

A statement from the Royal Free said: “We are sad to announce that Pauline Cafferkey’s condition has deteriorated and she is now critically ill.

“She is being treated for Ebola in the high level isolation unit at the Royal Free Hospital.”

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Ms Cafferkey, who is from South Lanarkshire in Scotland, was diagnosed with Ebola in December after returning to Glasgow from Sierra Leone, via London.

She spent almost a month in an isolation unit at the Royal Free Hospital at the beginning of the year.

Following her diagnosis, Ms Cafferkey received an experimental anti-viral drug and blood from survivors of the Ebola disease.

She was in a critical condition for two weeks and was discharged from the Royal Free in late January.

Last Friday, she was flown to London from Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in Glasgow in a military aircraft after there was an “unusual late complication” with the infection.

PA