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Pauline Cafferkey: 'Ebola nurse' admitted to hospital for third time

A spokesperson for the hospital said that Cafferkey had been admitted for 'further investigations'

Andrew Griffin
Tuesday 23 February 2016 10:46 GMT
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Pauline Cafferkey was admitted to the isolation unit at the Royal Free Hospital in north west London on Friday after becoming unwell in Glasgow
Pauline Cafferkey was admitted to the isolation unit at the Royal Free Hospital in north west London on Friday after becoming unwell in Glasgow (PA)

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Pauline Cafferkey, the British nurse who contracted Ebola, has been admitted to hospital for the third time.

Cafferkey became known as the “Ebola nurse” after being flown back to Britain to recover from the disease, and was apparently cured of it. But months later, she went back into hospital after experiencing complications related to the disease.

Her case provoked widespread fear that the deadly disease may not be destroyed by the body as easily as it was thought. Ebola is thought to live on in various parts of the body, and appeared to have infected her again after continuing in a reservoir in her nervous system.

WHO declares Ebola outbreak over as Liberia gets all-clear

It wasn’t initially clear whether Cafferkey was being readmitted because of complications from her previous contact with Ebola.

Cafferkey was admitted to the Infectious Diseases Unit at Glasow's Queen Elizabeth university hospital. She has previous been treated at the Royal Free Hospital's specialist centre.

An NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde spokesman said: "Under routine monitoring by the Infectious Diseases Unit, Pauline Cafferkey has been admitted to hospital for further investigations."

Cafferkey was helping treat people with Ebola in Sierra Leone when she fell in December 2014. She was quickly moved to an isolation unit at London's Royal Free Hospital.

She was released after apparently beating the disease, but became ill again in October 2015.

At the time, officials said that she was critically ill. But she recovered once again, was transferred to Glasgow's Queen Elizabeth hospital, and continued her recovery there before returning home.

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