A NURSE who is being treated for a late complication of an Ebola infection is being treated for meningitis, according to her doctors.
Pauline Cafferkey was admitted to the isolation unit at the Royal Free Hospital in north west London more than a week ago after becoming unwell in Glasgow.
Doctors said the 39-year-old, who is from South Lanarkshire, has made "significant improvement" and is now talking to staff in isolation unit.
Medics also said Ms Cafferkey, who has started eating again, has "a long recovery ahead" over her. However, they are “very hopeful” that she will make a “full recovery”.
Earlier this week, doctors said her condition had improved and she was "serious but stable".
Last Wednesday the hospital said Ms Cafferkey was "critically ill" after her condition deteriorated and she was left fighting for her life.
Ms Cafferkey was flown from Glasgow in a military aircraft in the early hours of October 9.
She had become unwell earlier in the week and was treated at the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in the south side of the city before being transferred.
Meanwhile, 58 close contacts of the nurse were identified, with 40 of those offered vaccinations as a precaution.
Ms Cafferkey contracted Ebola while working as a nurse at the Save the Children treatment centre in Kerry Town.
She was diagnosed with Ebola in December after returning to Glasgow from Sierra Leone.
She spent almost a month in an isolation unit at the Royal Free before being discharged in late January.
Dr Michael Jacobs, infectious diseases consultant, said: "I'm very pleased today to have the opportunity to update you about Pauline's condition and explain a little about her current illness.
"The last few days she has made a significant improvement.
"She is inside the isolation unit ... But she's talking freely with the staff, using the iPad, beginning to eat a little.
"I think she has a long recovery ahead of her and will be with us for quite a while still."
An NHS statement said: "The announcement from the Royal Free has not changed our assessment that the risk to the public remains extremely low.
No new close contacts of Pauline Cafferkey have emerged and we continue to monitor the 65 individuals already identified. A number of Ebola tests have been carried out and they have all returned negative. All appropriate infection control measures remain in plac
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel