Pauline Cafferkey

On 29 December 2014, Cafferkey, who had just returned to Glasgow from Sierra Leone via Casablanca Airport and London Heathrow Airport, was diagnosed with Ebola virus disease at Glasgow's Gartnavel General Hospital.{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-30628349|title=Ebola case confirmed in Glasgow hospital|work=BBC News|date=29 December 2014}}{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/dec/29/ebola-case-confirmed-glasgow-healthcare-worker|title=Ebola case confirmed in Glasgow|work=The Guardian|date=29 December 2014|author1=Severin Carrell |author2=Libby Brooks |author3=Lisa O'Carroll }}{{cite news|title=Hero nurse Pauline Cafferkey could have contracted deadly Ebola at Christmas Day service|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/scotland/11317226/Ebola-in-Scotland-Hero-nurse-Pauline-Cafferkey-spoke-movingly-of-saving-lives.html|publisher=The Telegraph|date=30 December 2014}} She had been working at an Ebola treatment centre in Kerry Town in Sierra Leone, and it is thought she contracted the virus as a result of wearing a visor, as recommended by the World Health Organization and the UK Ministry of Defence, instead of goggles.{{cite web |url= https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-31128964 |title= Ebola nurse infection 'down to visor' |date= 4 February 2015 |access-date= 8 February 2015 |first= James |last= Gallagher |work= BBC News}}

After initial treatment in Glasgow, she was transferred by air to RAF Northolt, then to the specialist high-level isolation unit at the Royal Free Hospital in London for longer-term treatment. A Scottish government spokesman described the risk to the general public as "extremely low to the point of negligible" due to the very early stage of the infection at the time of detection. Contact tracing was carried out on the other passengers who traveled on the flight from London to Glasgow with her.{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-30629397|title=Ebola nurse Pauline Cafferkey transferred to London unit|date=30 December 2014|publisher=BBC News}} Medical staff described her condition at the time as "as well as we can hope for at this stage."{{cite news |url= https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-30648879 |title= Ebola: Nurse Pauline Cafferkey 'as well as hoped for' |date= 1 January 2015 |work= BBC News |access-date= 1 January 2015}}

On 4 January 2015, the Royal Free Hospital announced that her condition had deteriorated to critical,{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-30666265|title=BBC News - UK Ebola nurse Pauline Cafferkey 'in critical condition'|work=BBC News|access-date=4 January 2015 |date= 4 January 2015}} with her health later stabilising before she was declared no longer critically ill on 12 January.{{cite news|last1=Gallagher|first1=James|title=UK Ebola nurse Pauline Cafferkey has 'stabilised'|work=BBC News |date=5 January 2015 |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-30657485|access-date=5 January 2015}}{{cite news |url= https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-30783537 |title= Ebola nurse no longer critically ill |work= BBC News |date= 12 January 2015 |access-date= 12 January 2015}} Cafferkey received blood plasma from William Pooley and has been treated with experimental drugs as part of her treatment. On 24 January, she was declared to be free of infection, and released from hospital.{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-30967337|title=Ebola nurse: Pauline Cafferkey 'happy to be alive'|publisher=BBC News|date=24 January 2015}}

The prognosis after recovery from Ebola virus disease can include joint pains, muscular pain, skin peeling, or hair loss.{{cite journal|last1=Qureshi|first1=Adnan I.|last2=Chughtai|first2=Morad|last3=Loua|first3=Tokpagnan Oscar|last4=Pe Kolie|first4=Jean|last5=Camara|first5=Hadja Fatou Sikhe|last6=Ishfaq|first6=Muhammad Fawad|last7=N'Dour|first7=Cheikh Tidane|last8=Beavogui|first8=Kezely|title=Study of Ebola Virus Disease Survivors in Guinea: Table 1.|journal=Clinical Infectious Diseases|volume=61|issue=7|year=2015|pages=1035–1042|issn=1058-4838|doi=10.1093/cid/civ453|pmid=26060289|doi-access=free}}{{cite journal|vauthors=Goeijenbier M, van Kampen JJ, Reusken CB, Koopmans MP, van Gorp EC | title=Ebola virus disease: a review on epidemiology, symptoms, treatment and pathogenesis|journal=Neth J Med|volume=72|issue=9|pages= 442–8|date=November 2014|pmid=25387613|url=http://www.njmonline.nl/getpdf.php?t=a&id=10001148}}{{cite journal|last1=Carod-Artal|first1=Francisco Javier|title=Post-Ebolavirus disease syndrome: what do we know?|journal=Expert Review of Anti-infective Therapy|volume=13|issue=10|year=2015|pages=1185–1187|issn=1478-7210|doi=10.1586/14787210.2015.1079128|pmid=26293407|doi-access=free}} In a media interview in September 2015, Cafferkey said "I’ve had trouble with my thyroid, lost some of my hair and get really sore joints but I guess side effects are to be expected."{{cite news|last=Greenaway |first=Heather |url=http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/health/ebola-survivor-pauline-cafferkey-ordeal-6434413 |title=Ebola survivor Pauline Cafferkey on her ordeal: 'I left my isolation tent after 21 days. I haven't been camping since' |publisher=Trinity Mirror |newspaper=Daily Record |date=13 September 2015 |access-date=14 September 2016}}

It was found in 2015 that, after an apparent complete cure, with the bloodstream, saliva and organs such as the liver free of the Ebola virus, it can linger on in parts of the body not protected by the immune system, including fluid in the eye, the central nervous system and, in men, the testes and semen.{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/oct/16/how-pauline-cafferkeys-ebola-relapse-tears-up-everything-doctors-thought-they-knew|title=How Pauline Cafferkey's Ebola relapse tears up everything doctors thought they knew|last=Boseley|first=Sarah|date=2015-10-16|newspaper=The Guardian|language=en-GB|issn=0261-3077|access-date=2016-10-08}}

Cafferkey went to a 24-hour GP clinic in New Victoria Hospital in Glasgow on the night of 5 October 2015 and was diagnosed with "a virus" (unspecified) and sent home.{{cite news|first=Libby |last=Brooks |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/oct/11/pauline-cafferkey-family-accuses-doctors-of-major-failings |title=Family of Ebola nurse Pauline Cafferkey accuse doctors of 'major failings' |newspaper=The Guardian |date=11 October 2015 |access-date=14 September 2016}} 24 hours later she was admitted to Queen Elizabeth University Hospital where she was diagnosed with late complications caused by the Ebola virus hitherto considered unusual, and was flown by military jet to London, to the Royal Free Hospital. Her condition was initially described as serious and she was being treated in the high-level isolation unit. Doctors discovered that, after she had been deemed cured, the virus had remained in her cerebrospinal fluid and feared that it might be in her central nervous system. Personnel in Scotland monitored those whom she had come into contact with, since the virus can be spread through exposure to the infected person's body fluids, though they said the risk was likely to be small.{{cite news|title = Ebola nurse Pauline Cafferkey 'in serious condition'| work=BBC News | date=9 October 2015 |url = https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-34483584|access-date = 2015-10-09}}

Cafferkey's condition declined rapidly, and on 14 October 2015 she was reported to be critically ill.{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-34529575|title=Scottish Ebola nurse Pauline Cafferkey 'critically ill'|date=2015-10-14|publisher=BBC News}} Five days later, on 19 October 2015, the Royal Free Hospital announced that: "Pauline Cafferkey's condition has improved to serious but stable".{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-34574899|title=Ebola nurse Pauline Cafferkey's condition 'has improved'|date=2015-10-19|publisher=BBC News}} On 21 October 2015 Dr Michael Jacobs, Cafferkey's doctor at the Royal Free Hospital, said at a televised press conference that Cafferkey was suffering from neurological complications from meningitis caused by Ebola virus, and had not been re-infected with Ebola, was being treated using a highly experimental anti-viral agent called GS5734, and had significantly improved, although she remained in an isolation tent and was not well enough to get out of bed.{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-glasgow-west-34592132|title=Ebola caused meningitis in nurse Pauline Cafferkey|date=2015-10-21|publisher=BBC News}}{{cite AV media | people=Dr Michael Jacobs | date=2015-10-21 | title=Royal Free Hospital Press Conference | medium=Television}}{{cite AV media | people=Dr Michael Jacobs | date=2015-10-21 | title=Ebola-stricken nurse Pauline Cafferkey makes 'significant improvement' | medium=Television production | url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rYG3eb9QvsI | access-date=2015-10-21 | publisher=Press Association | location=Royal Free Hospital, London}} On 12 November the Royal Free Hospital said that Cafferkey had made a full recovery and was no longer infectious.{{cite web|title = Ebola nurse Pauline Cafferkey 'has made full recovery'|url = https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-34791692|website = BBC News|access-date = 2015-11-14|date = 12 November 2015}} She was transferred to Glasgow's Queen Elizabeth University Hospital.{{cite web |title=Pauline Cafferkey discharged {{!}} The Royal Free |url=https://www.royalfree.nhs.uk/news-media/news/pauline-cafferkey-discharged/ |website=www.royalfree.nhs.uk |access-date=20 April 2023}}

In February 2016, Cafferkey was admitted to Glasgow's Queen Elizabeth University Hospital after "routine monitoring by the Infectious Diseases Unit". On the same day she was transferred by a RAF plane to London where she was readmitted to the Royal Free Hospital. In a statement the Royal Free said she had been transferred to the hospital "due to a late complication from her previous infection by the Ebola virus" and that she was being treated by the hospital's infectious diseases team. On 24 February the hospital described her condition as "stable".{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-35639748 |title=Ebola nurse Pauline Cafferkey 'stable' after night in London hospital |work=BBC News |publisher=BBC |date=24 February 2016 |access-date=14 September 2016}} On 28 February Cafferkey was discharged by the Royal Free Hospital. A spokesman said, "We can confirm that Pauline is not infectious. The Ebola virus can only be transmitted by direct contact with the blood or bodily fluids of an infected person while they are symptomatic."{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-glasgow-west-35683091 |title=Ebola nurse Pauline Cafferkey discharged from hospital |work=BBC News |publisher=BBC |date=28 February 2016 |access-date=14 September 2016}}

On 6 October 2016 she was readmitted to the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital to be monitored by the infectious diseases team. A NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde spokeswoman said that she was in a stable condition and undergoing investigations.{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-glasgow-west-37574256|title=UK Ebola nurse in 'stable' condition in hospital|date=2016-10-06|newspaper=BBC News|language=en-GB|access-date=2016-10-06}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/oct/06/ebola-nurse-pauline-cafferkey-returns-to-hospital-under-police-escort|title=Ebola nurse Pauline Cafferkey returns to hospital under police escort|last1=Boseley|first1=Sarah|date=2016-10-06|last2=Brooks|first2=Libby|newspaper=The Guardian|language=en-GB|issn=0261-3077|access-date=2016-10-06}} In the evening of the same day a statement was issued stating that tests for the Ebola virus were negative.{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-glasgow-west-37574256|title=UK Ebola nurse tests negative|date=2016-10-06|work=BBC News|access-date=2020-01-20|language=en-GB}}

In 2014, due to the fact that Cafferkey had passed through border controls and travelled on a domestic flight from Heathrow to Glasgow, criticism was levelled at current screening protocols at UK points of entry, which mainly consisted of taking a person's temperature and asking a series of questions.{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-30637049|title=Doctor travelling with Ebola nurse: Screening 'chaotic'|date=30 December 2014|publisher=BBC News}} Public Health England stated that they were planning a review of the screening procedures.{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/dec/30/ebola-airport-screening-reviewed|title=Ebola screening to be reviewed after doctor attacks 'inadequate' measures|date=30 December 2014|author=Josh Halliday|work=the Guardian}}

In 2016, the Nursing and Midwifery Council initiated proceedings against Cafferkey, alleging that she had allowed an incorrect temperature to be recorded during the screening process upon returning to the UK from Sierra Leone in 2014. Following a two-day hearing in Edinburgh during September 2016, the charges against Cafferkey were dismissed and she was cleared of any wrongdoing. The disciplinary panel was told that she had been impaired by illness at the time and heard evidence about how the Public Health England screening centre at Heathrow Airport had been unprepared for a large influx of passengers and that it was "busy, disorganised and even chaotic". BBC Scotland reporter Philip Sim wrote: "It now seems as if the case against Pauline Cafferkey had fallen apart before the hearing even began - raising questions as to why she had to go through it in the first place".{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-glasgow-west-37364497 |title=UK Ebola nurse Pauline Cafferkey cleared of misconduct |work=BBC News |publisher=BBC |date=14 September 2016 |access-date=14 September 2016}}{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/sep/14/ebola-nurse-pauline-cafferkey-not-guilty-of-misconduct |title=Ebola nurse Pauline Cafferkey cleared of misconduct |publisher=The Guardian Newspaper |date=14 September 2016 |access-date=6 October 2016}} In November 2016, a second panel criticised fellow volunteer senior nurse Donna Wood for suggesting "let's put it down as 37.2 and get out of here and sort it out later".{{cite news| url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-38095295| title=Ebola nurse banned for hiding Pauline Cafferkey's high temperature| work=BBC News| date=25 November 2016| access-date=26 November 2016}} Wood was suspended for two months for failing to alert the authorities about Cafferkey's condition. Hannah Ryan, the doctor that agreed to record the incorrect temperature, was suspended for one month by the Medical Practitioners Tribunal in March 2017.{{cite news| url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-39446355| title=Medic suspended for 'dishonesty' over Ebola temperature| work=BBC News| date=30 March 2017| access-date=31 March 2017}}

In April 2017, Cafferkey announced she would return to Sierra Leone in May to raise funds for Ebola survivors and children orphaned by the disease.{{cite news|last1=Cacciottolo|first1=Mario|title=Ebola nurse Pauline Cafferkey to return to Sierra Leone|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-39553391|access-date=12 April 2017|publisher=BBC News|date=12 April 2017}}

In June 2019, Cafferkey gave birth to twin sons in a hospital in Glasgow, at the age of 43.{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-glasgow-west-48635678|title=Ebola nurse Pauline Cafferkey has twins|date=2019-06-14|access-date=2019-06-14|language=en-GB|publisher=BBC News}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.cnn.com/2019/06/14/health/pauline-cafferkey-uk-ebola-nurse-twins-scli-gbr-intl/index.html|title=UK Ebola patient Pauline Cafferkey gives birth to twins|first=Rob |last=Picheta|website=CNN|date=14 June 2019 |access-date=2019-06-14}} In a statement, she said "this shows that there is life after Ebola and there is a future for those who have encountered this disease".{{Cite web|url=https://www.standard.co.uk/news/world/ebola-nurse-pauline-cafferkey-gives-birth-to-twin-boys-a4167946.html|title=Nurse who survived ebola gives birth to twin boys|date=2019-06-14|website=Evening Standard|language=en|access-date=2019-06-15}}

• Ebola virus disease in the United Kingdom

{{reflist|30em}}

• [https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-30684665 BBC News profile of Pauline Cafferkey]
• [http://www.scotsman.com/news/scottish-nurse-pauline-cafferkey-s-ebola-diary-1-3644988 The Scotsman: Scottish nurse Pauline Cafferkey’s Ebola diary]

{{Ebola}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cafferkey, Pauline}}

Category:Living people

Category:Year of birth missing (living people)

Category:1970s births

Category:Ebola survivors

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