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Experimental drug for Ebola patient Pauline Cafferkey Experimental drug for Ebola patient Pauline Cafferkey
(35 minutes later)
Ebola patient Pauline Cafferkey is receiving an experimental anti-viral drug and blood from survivors of the disease, doctors in London have said.Ebola patient Pauline Cafferkey is receiving an experimental anti-viral drug and blood from survivors of the disease, doctors in London have said.
Specialists at the Royal Free Hospital in Hampstead, where the nurse is being treated, did not name the drug.Specialists at the Royal Free Hospital in Hampstead, where the nurse is being treated, did not name the drug.
Dr Michael Jacobs said Ms Cafferkey was in isolation and was sitting up in bed, talking and reading.Dr Michael Jacobs said Ms Cafferkey was in isolation and was sitting up in bed, talking and reading.
As the disease has no cure and is unpredictable, Dr Jacobs said they would know more in a week's time. As the disease has no known cure and is unpredictable, Dr Jacobs said they would know more in a week's time.
He said Ms Cafferkey had agreed to all the treatments and her family had been to see her.He said Ms Cafferkey had agreed to all the treatments and her family had been to see her.
"She's a nurse, a fellow professional, so we have been able to discuss things in great detail," he said."She's a nurse, a fellow professional, so we have been able to discuss things in great detail," he said.
"She's as well as we can hope for at this stage of the illness. She's had the treatment, it's gone very smoothly, no side-effects at all.""She's as well as we can hope for at this stage of the illness. She's had the treatment, it's gone very smoothly, no side-effects at all."
The drug and the blood plasma are part of a tranche of experimental treatments, he said.The drug and the blood plasma are part of a tranche of experimental treatments, he said.
"We simply don't know what the best treatment strategies are," he added."We simply don't know what the best treatment strategies are," he added.
He said there was "a European pool" of recovered patients' blood plasma and they had identified "the best plasma for her".He said there was "a European pool" of recovered patients' blood plasma and they had identified "the best plasma for her".
It is hoped the antibodies in the plasma will help her immune system fight the disease.It is hoped the antibodies in the plasma will help her immune system fight the disease.
Temperature taken
Ms Cafferkey, a public health nurse at Blantyre Health Centre in South Lanarkshire, is receiving treatment via a quarantine tent after returning to Glasgow from Sierra Leone on Sunday.Ms Cafferkey, a public health nurse at Blantyre Health Centre in South Lanarkshire, is receiving treatment via a quarantine tent after returning to Glasgow from Sierra Leone on Sunday.
She was working in the West African country as part of a Save the Children team. She was working in the West African country as part of a Save the Children team. She travelled home via Casablanca, Morocco, and London's Heathrow Airport.
Ms Cafferkey was screened for the disease at Heathrow and told officials she believed a fever might be developing.
Her temperature was taken seven times in total and was normal each time, so she was allowed to fly home to Scotland.
She was placed in an isolation unit at Gartnavel Hospital in Glasgow after becoming feverish on Monday.
Ms Cafferkey was transferred by RAF Hercules plane to London and on to the Royal Free's specialist treatment centre on Tuesday.
Ebola is transmitted by direct contact with the bodily fluids of an infected person, such as blood, vomit or faeces.
The virus has killed more than 7,800 people, mostly in West Africa, since it broke out a year ago.
The World Health Organization says the number of people infected by the disease in Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea has now passed 20,000.
Screening protocols
The case has raised questions about the screening process in place for passengers leaving West Africa and arriving at Heathrow.
The chief medical officer for England, Dame Sally Davies, said Ms Cafferkey had been in the early phase of the disease when she made the journey back to the UK and her fellow passengers were at "very low risk" of being infected.
She told the BBC: "The public health risk is negligible - Ebola's very difficult to catch."
While the correct protocols had been followed, she said, the precautions were always under review.
A Department of Health spokesman said it would review the screening protocols.