Ebola relapse leaves British nurse critically ill

Pauline Cafferkey, the British nurse who suffered complications from the Ebola infection she contracted while volunteering in west Africa, is now critically ill, the Royal Free hospital in London has said.

Ms Cafferkey was flown from Scotland, where she lives, to London for specialised care in an isolation tent at the Royal Free after she fell ill last week. Her family said the local medical staff were slow to realise this was a recurrence of the infection she had successfully fought last year.

The hospital said yesterday that her condition had deteriorated and that she was critically ill. It has not released further details of her illness.

“We are sad to announce that Pauline Cafferkey’s condition has deteriorated and she is now critically ill. Pauline is being treated for Ebola in the high-level isolation unit at the Royal Free hospital,” a statement said.

While there have been reports of the virus lingering in the eyes of survivors and of transmission through semen, Ms Cafferkey is the first person known to have a life-threatening recurrence of Ebola viral disease – although it is entirely possible that other survivors in west Africa may have fallen ill in the same way without coming to public attention.

New illness

Although 58 of Ms Cafferkey’s contacts are being monitored, most experts believe that is a precautionary measure to reassure the public and that it is unlikely she is infectious. Ebola is transmitted only by contact with body fluids and there has been no suggestion that her new illness is manifesting in the usual way for a first-time Ebola infection, which typically involves vomiting and eventually bleeding.

In a recent interview with ITV's Lorraine Kelly, Ms Cafferkey spoke of her brush with death in January. "Outwardly I just tried to be stoical about everything but inside, obviously I was very frightened," she said.

Outcome

“I knew it could have gone three ways – it could have been mild, it could have been severe, which it was with me, and it could have been death, the other outcome which I came very close to.”

Ms Cafferkey volunteered to work in Sierra Leone and spent four weeks there, mostly with Save the Children at its Ebola treatment centre outside Freetown. She began to feel ill when she arrived back at Heathrow airport on December 28th, where she told staff from Public Health England, who were assessing the returnees, but she was cleared to fly on to Glasgow.

The following day she was admitted to the infectious diseases unit of Gartnavel hospital, Glasgow and on December 30th she was transferred by an RAF plane to London’s Royal Free hospital.

On January 3rd, the hospital issued a statement saying that Ms Cafferkey was in a critical condition, but her immune system rallied, with the help of intensive medical support. On January 24th she was discharged, saying she was “happy to be alive”. – (Guardian service)