Nina Pham, the Dallas nurse who contracted the Ebola virus while caring for patient Thomas Eric Duncan, is now free of the virus and is being discharged from the NIH Clinical Center in Bethesda where she received treatment, the agency announced in a press conference October 24.
Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said their medical team confirmed Ms. Pham was Ebola-free after receiving five consecutive negative polymerase chain reaction tests for the virus.
Dr. Anthony Fauci
He said it is impossible to determine a specific “turning point” at which she started to recover. Ms. Pham did not receive any experimental drugs during treatment, he said.
“One of the most important things is to give them the kind of general medical support to allow their own body to fight off the virus and essentially get rid of the virus,” Dr. Fauci said.
“It has been a great pleasure and privilege for me and staff here to have the opportunity to treat and get to know this courageous and lovely person,” he added. “She as an individual represents nurses and health care workers who put themselves on the line to care for those in need.”
Dr. Fauci stressed the importance of educating the public about the virus, and that the risk for health care workers is significantly higher than it is for the general public. “I repeat what we’ve been saying – the way you get Ebola is by direct contact with the body fluids of an ill individual,” he said. “That is important to point out.”
Though there is currently no vaccine for Ebola, Dr. Fauci said he hopes large, randomized efficacy trials can begin in 2015.
Ms. Pham was first diagnosed with the Ebola virus at Texas Presbyterian Hospital on Oct. 12. She had helped care for Mr. Duncan while he was at the Dallas hospital; he died from the infection Oct. 8. Ms. Pham was moved to the NIH Special Clinical Studies Unit in Bethesda, Md., on Oct.16.
In the conference, she thanked her family, friends, and the NIH medical team for their support, as well as Ebola survivor Dr. Kent Brantly, who donated plasma during her recovery.
“I feel fortunate and blessed to be standing here today,” she said. “This illness has been very stressful and challenging for me and my family. Although I no longer have Ebola, I know it may be a while before I have my strength back.”
Ms. Pham said she plans to resume a “normal life” upon her return to Texas.
Emory University in Atlanta reported on Oct. 24 that Amber Vinson, the other Dallas nurse who was infected, is now free of the virus, according to blood tests.
A new case – in a doctor who returned to the United States after caring for Ebola patients in Guinea – was confirmed by the CDC on Oct. 23 in New York.
Mali’s Ministry of Health confirmed the country’s first case of Ebola on Oct. 23, according to a statement issued by the World Health Organization. The patient is a 2-year-old girl recently arrived in Mali from Guinea.