IT鈥橲 the virus that doesn鈥檛 quit. British nurse Pauline Cafferkey caught Ebola while working in West Africa last December. She survived, but this week is in a 鈥渟erious鈥� condition in an isolation ward in London, after experiencing renewed symptoms.
She sought medical help on 7 October but wasn鈥檛 isolated until three days later. She had initially been diagnosed with 鈥渁 virus鈥� and sent home, despite her history. Now 58 close, recent contacts, including medical staff where she was first examined, are under surveillance. Some have received an experimental Ebola vaccine.
Cafferkey isn鈥檛 alone. More than half the 13,000 Ebola survivors in West Africa are thought to be experiencing . These symptoms have been reported after other viral infections.
Advertisement
But other symptoms, such as eye problems, seem specific to Ebola. That鈥檚 because the virus can survive in organs that are sheltered from the immune system, such as eyes and testes, even if someone seems cured of the disease.
So far, a quarter of people who survived the West African epidemic have developed severe eye problems, including an American doctor. US medical agencies are now in Liberia for a study into what causes post-Ebola syndrome, and whether the lurking virus can infect others.
(Image: Ken McKay/ITV/REX Shutterstock)
This article appeared in print under the headline 鈥淓bola survivor seriously ill again鈥�
