Pauline Cafferkey: Ebola nurse 'shows signs of improvement' as condition upgraded from 'critical' to 'stable'

New mum Pauline Cafferkey praised the NHS workers who have cared for her over the years and helped deliver her two healthy sons.
Lisa Ferguson/Scotland on Sunday/PA Wire
Ramzy Alwakeel19 October 2015

The British nurse being treated for an Ebola relapse at London’s Royal Free Hospital is understood to be showing signs of improvement, a week after doctors admitted she was fighting for her life.

Pauline Cafferkey, 39, is being treated in an isolation unit in Hampstead after a “complication” on Wednesday left her critically unwell.

She had already beaten the infection once, having contracted it in December while working in for Save the Children in Sierra Leone.

Earlier this month she again became unwell and was eventually admitted to hospital before being transferred to specialists at the Royal Free.

“We are able to announce that Pauline Cafferkey’s condition has improved to serious but stable,” said a hospital spokesman this afternoon.

Ms Cafferkey, from Glasgow, spent a month at the hospital after contracting the illness last year.

Scientists believe the body can harbour Ebola months after a sufferer appears to have fully recovered.

A report from Save the Children in February said Ms Cafferkey was likely infected after using a visor to protect her face instead of goggles.

She won an award at the Pride of Britain Awards in central London last month.

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