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| Ebola nurse Pauline Cafferkey nearly died from meningitis, doctors say | Ebola nurse Pauline Cafferkey nearly died from meningitis, doctors say |
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| Pauline Cafferkey, the British nurse who contracted Ebola nine months ago in west Africa, came close to death from meningitis caused by the lingering virus, doctors have revealed. | Pauline Cafferkey, the British nurse who contracted Ebola nine months ago in west Africa, came close to death from meningitis caused by the lingering virus, doctors have revealed. |
| Her condition has significantly improved and she is now well enough to chat to medics, use her iPad and sit up in bed. Doctors expect her to make a slow but full recovery. | |
| Dr Mike Jacobs, an infectious diseases consultant at the Royal Free hospital in London, said Cafferkey had not become reinfected with the virus since her recovery in January but it had persisted in the brain, and this had led to viral meningitis. | Dr Mike Jacobs, an infectious diseases consultant at the Royal Free hospital in London, said Cafferkey had not become reinfected with the virus since her recovery in January but it had persisted in the brain, and this had led to viral meningitis. |
| “The virus re-emerged around the brain and around the spinal column to cause meningitis,” Jacobs said. “She developed some serious neurological complications.” | |
| Asked how ill Cafferkey had become, Jacobs said: “It is really important to understand the word critical. It means someone is at imminent risk of dying. We were all extremely concerned about Pauline’s condition a week ago.” | Asked how ill Cafferkey had become, Jacobs said: “It is really important to understand the word critical. It means someone is at imminent risk of dying. We were all extremely concerned about Pauline’s condition a week ago.” |
| He added: “We’re very hopeful that Pauline will slowly make a full recovery, that’s very much in our sights. Over time we anticipate that the virus will be completely eradicated. She has a long road to full recovery.” | He added: “We’re very hopeful that Pauline will slowly make a full recovery, that’s very much in our sights. Over time we anticipate that the virus will be completely eradicated. She has a long road to full recovery.” |
| Cafferkey, from South Lanarkshire, contracted Ebola in December while working in Sierra Leone and was treated with an experimental antiviral drug known as GS5734, being developed by the US drugmaker Gilead Sciences. | Cafferkey, from South Lanarkshire, contracted Ebola in December while working in Sierra Leone and was treated with an experimental antiviral drug known as GS5734, being developed by the US drugmaker Gilead Sciences. |
| She complained of feeling unwell two weeks ago and was transferred from the Queen Elizabeth University hospital in Glasgow to the Royal Free specialist isolation unit where she had been first treated for Ebola. | She complained of feeling unwell two weeks ago and was transferred from the Queen Elizabeth University hospital in Glasgow to the Royal Free specialist isolation unit where she had been first treated for Ebola. |
| Related: British Ebola nurse readmitted to hospital in 'serious condition' | Related: British Ebola nurse readmitted to hospital in 'serious condition' |
| Jacobs said Cafferkey’s readmission had been unexpected. “This is a situation we didn’t expect to face and is new to us. It was a surprise for sure and I felt pretty devastated for Pauline. It seemed incredibly unlucky that this happened to someone who had volunteered to go and help in Sierra Leone and assist the humanitarian effort.” | Jacobs said Cafferkey’s readmission had been unexpected. “This is a situation we didn’t expect to face and is new to us. It was a surprise for sure and I felt pretty devastated for Pauline. It seemed incredibly unlucky that this happened to someone who had volunteered to go and help in Sierra Leone and assist the humanitarian effort.” |
| The Ebola virus is known to persist in some sites in the body, including the testes, the spinal cord and the eye chamber, after it has cleared the bloodstream. But scientists are only now beginning to find out more about where it can survive and for how long, and when it might re-emerge. “It is an extraordinary evolving scientific story and we are clearly not at the end,” Jacobs said. | The Ebola virus is known to persist in some sites in the body, including the testes, the spinal cord and the eye chamber, after it has cleared the bloodstream. But scientists are only now beginning to find out more about where it can survive and for how long, and when it might re-emerge. “It is an extraordinary evolving scientific story and we are clearly not at the end,” Jacobs said. |
| He said Cafferkey had presented herself initially with classic symptoms of meningitis, which include a fever and headaches. “She had a test on her spinal fluid because it was quite clear that the syndrome was meningitis,” he said. | He said Cafferkey had presented herself initially with classic symptoms of meningitis, which include a fever and headaches. “She had a test on her spinal fluid because it was quite clear that the syndrome was meningitis,” he said. |
| Because of her history, they then tested her blood and found “very low levels of the virus, the sort of levels you would see in patients that were about to recover. | Because of her history, they then tested her blood and found “very low levels of the virus, the sort of levels you would see in patients that were about to recover. |
| “We didn’t know what the trajectory was – if the virus in the blood was heralding the fact that something was going to happen or was it just what we would call incidental, because we have never seen anything like this before, we were not sure what was going to happen, whether this was going to turn into full-blown Ebola virus – and let’s be absolutely clear about this: it did not,” Jacobs said. | |
| He said he hoped Cafferkey’s immune system would eventually fight off and eliminate the virus completely. | He said he hoped Cafferkey’s immune system would eventually fight off and eliminate the virus completely. |
| Related: Ebola study finds women in Guinea who appear immune to the virus | Related: Ebola study finds women in Guinea who appear immune to the virus |
| The latent Ebola virus has not previously been known to trigger a life-threatening illness so long after the original infection. | The latent Ebola virus has not previously been known to trigger a life-threatening illness so long after the original infection. |
| Dan Bausch, who leads the World Health Organisation’s epidemic diseases team, said meningitis had been caused in the acute stages of the virus, but this had only happened in the initial infection. However, there may have been similar complications in survivors in west Africa that have gone undetected because of poor medical systems. | Dan Bausch, who leads the World Health Organisation’s epidemic diseases team, said meningitis had been caused in the acute stages of the virus, but this had only happened in the initial infection. However, there may have been similar complications in survivors in west Africa that have gone undetected because of poor medical systems. |
| Bausch said the WHO still had 1,000 staff in west Africa and the emergency was not over. “We are past the acute stage of this epidemic and we are in range of getting to zero cases,” he said. “We have to think about what happens next, there are a great many needs among survivors.” | Bausch said the WHO still had 1,000 staff in west Africa and the emergency was not over. “We are past the acute stage of this epidemic and we are in range of getting to zero cases,” he said. “We have to think about what happens next, there are a great many needs among survivors.” |