2 Ebola survivors out of US hospital
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E-mail Agencies via Shanghai Daily, August 22, 2014
Two American missionaries who fell ill with the Ebola virus while working in Liberia have recovered and have been released from an Atlanta hospital, US doctors said yesterday.
Dr Kent Brantly, 33, and Nancy Writebol, 60, became sick with Ebola in Monrovia last month and were airlifted to Emory University Hospital in the US for treatment.
"The discharge from the hospital of both these patients poses no public health threat," said Bruce Ribner, director of Emory’s Infectious Disease Unit.
Writebol was released on August 19, according to a statement from the aid group for which she worked, SIM USA.
Brantly appeared alongside doctors from Emory University Hospital at a press conference, smiling and holding hands with his wife.
"After a rigorous course of treatment and testing, the Emory Healthcare team has determined that both patients have recovered from the Ebola virus and can return to their families and community without concern for spreading this infection to others," Ribner said.
The current outbreak of Ebola virus in West Africa is the largest in history and has killed 1,350 people since March in Liberia, Guinea, Sierra Leone and Nigeria.
The president of the Christian missionary group for which Brantly worked in Liberia, Samaritan’s Purse, hailed the doctor’s "courageous spirit" as he battled the virus.
"Today I join all of our Samaritan’s Purse team around the world in giving thanks to God as we celebrate Dr Kent Brantly’s recovery from Ebola and release from the hospital," said Franklin Graham.
"Over the past few weeks I have marveled at Dr Brantly’s courageous spirit as he has fought this horrible virus with the help of the highly competent and caring staff at Emory University Hospital."
Brantly, 33, was flown out of the West African nation of Liberia on August 2, and Writebol followed on August 5. The two were infected while working at a missionary clinic outside Liberia’s capital.
Brantly and Writebol received an experimental treatment called Zmapp, but it’s not known whether the drug helped or whether they improved on their own, as has happened to others who have survived the disease.
The treatment is so novel that it hasn’t been tested in people.
The limited supply of Zmapp was also tried in a Spanish missionary priest, who died, and three Liberian health care workers, who are said to be improving.
There is no proven treatment or vaccine for the Ebola virus outbreak which has caused panic across West Africa.
Patients are given basic supportive care to keep them hydrated, maintain their blood pressure and treat any complicating infections. Ebola is spread only through direct contact with the bodily fluids of sick people experiencing symptoms.
In Monrovia yesterday, calm was setting in just one day after residents in a slum that was sealed off in an effort to contain the outbreak clashed with riot police and soldiers. World Health Organization officials were visiting two hospitals that are treating Ebola patients and struggling to keep up with the influx of patients.
The death toll is rising most quickly in Liberia, which now accounts for at least 576 of the fatalities, the WHO said.
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