Ebola nurse Pauline Cafferkey 'in serious condition'

A Scottish nurse who contracted Ebola in Sierra Leone last year is in a "serious condition" after being readmitted to an isolation unit in London.
NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde confirmed that the virus is still present in Pauline Cafferkey's body after being left over from the original infection.
She is not thought to be contagious.

Ebola nurse Pauline Cafferkey 'in serious condition'

Pretty scary, isn't it? I know she isn't thought to be contagious, but what if there are other "recovered" people who have passed it on? How would we contain it? If Ebola can stay dormant for as long as a YEAR, how can you be given the all-clear? There's always a chance that it could be passed on to others!

UPDATE: I will try to find other news sources. I'll post them here.


*MORE NEWS SOURCES*

www.independent.co.uk... l

Ebola can stay buried in survivors’ tissue meaning that its effects could continue long after people have apparently recovered, experts said today. And while there is no reason to worry about a return of the virus in the UK, its persistence could be a way that it will flare back up again.

www.scotsman.com...

originally posted by: Tenebris
Pretty scary, isn't it? I know she isn't thought to be contagious, but what if there are other "recovered" people who have passed it on? How would we contain it?

If Ebola mutated and started going dormant for a year while still being contagious, there would be no containing it. It would be another black death situation.

Wow.

We suspected and discussed that the virus was probably capable of longer survival times and/or latency (if that's the word for where it hides and lies dormant), but this is a really long time...months as compared to days or weeks.

a reply to: Tenebris
Well then it'd be to late as they have most likely covered a lot of ground and had contact with hundreds of people since then.

I do love how they say "not thought to be contagious" they should have just said they don't have a clue and where surprised at it popping back up.

a reply to: ObjectZero

I've also just noticed how the article from the Independent contradicts itself: "there's no need to worry", but the virus' persistence "could be a way that it will flare back up again"? I think that's a damn good reason to be worried!

I guess its time to put ebola patiens out of the Governments misery i guess huh? WHo thinks that this nurse wont survive this time?

a reply to: Tenebris

In a related story, Johnson & Johnson has begun testing an Ebola Vaccine in Sierra Leone.

Link

originally posted by: Tenebris
a reply to: ObjectZero

I've also just noticed how the article from the Independent contradicts itself: "there's no need to worry", but the virus' persistence "could be a way that it will flare back up again"? I think that's a damn good reason to be worried!

And there is this from the bbc article:

But there are now so many survivors in West Africa - around 13,000 - that if there was a major risk then we would know about it.

Liberia did have a mini Ebola flare-up after going more than 40 days without a case. (Me: DING!DING!DING!)

Ebola virus persisting in survivors is one possible explanation.

Experts say there will have to be monitoring for Ebola flare-ups for years after the epidemic is over.

Scary, if true. Surely, she has developed some ebola anti-bodies by now.

a reply to: Tenebris

Reading this thread reminded me of the Shingles virus and what causes it.


"Shingles is caused by the varicella-zoster virus — the same virus that causes chickenpox. After you've had chickenpox, the virus lies inactive in nerve tissue near your spinal cord and brain. Years later, the virus may reactivate as shingles.

While it isn't a life-threatening condition, shingles can be very painful. Vaccines can help reduce the risk of shingles, while early treatment can help shorten a shingles infection and lessen the chance of complications."

While Shingles is not life threatening, supposedly, what or who is to say the Ebola virus could not emerge from dormancy to be contagious and life threatening, maybe even more-so. Just a thought!

a reply to: Tenebris

Diseases like this have always bothered me slightly because obviously, if they keep recurring then they are carried forward generation by generation so obviously we never defeat them, they just lie dormant. With such an evil killer as Ebola it is very disquieting because it could mean that anyone who has had it will be 'contagious' (to some extent possibly) for the rest of their lives because it recurs.

originally posted by: Shiloh7
a reply to: Tenebris

Diseases like this have always bothered me slightly because obviously, if they keep recurring then they are carried forward generation by generation so obviously we never defeat them, they just lie dormant. With such an evil killer as Ebola it is very disquieting because it could mean that anyone who has had it will be 'contagious' (to some extent possibly) for the rest of their lives because it recurs.

edit on 9-10-2015 by Shiloh7 because: sorry washn[t what I meant to say originally.

we have a couple of drugs now that flush out latent virus. the idea is things like AIDS or Herpes get flushed into the open where the immune system or other therapies can get them. end result: no latent virus.

Maybe some of the claimed "fear-bola" or ebolating, isn't so far off. Also, probably eventually why some population affected by these types of viruses over time have immunities through a sort of self immunization, protection because they return. Or the dreaded very long time, to say it takes generations to work out immunities.

This has the makings of a real-life Zombie apocalypse. Or at least a bad Movie-of-the-week version of one.

She seems to be on the mend a bit. She's been down graded from 'critically ill' to 'serious but stable'.