UK doctors say nurse suffering Ebola relapse has improved significantly, hopeful of recovery

LONDON – Doctors treating a Scottish nurse suffering from a rare relapse of Ebola say she has improved significantly and are hopeful she will make a full recovery.

Dr. Michael Jacobs of the Royal Free Hospital said Wednesday that Pauline Cafferkey was hospitalized earlier this month for meningitis that developed as a result of lingering Ebola in her system. Cafferkey was treated last December for Ebola and discharged in January. Last week, she was in critical condition before being updated to “serious but stable.”

Scientists say it’s possible in some rare cases for Ebola virus to remain in the body for months, even after patients have recovered.

Jacobs said Ebola re-emerged in Cafferkey’s brain and spinal cord and that she was given an experimental drug, although it’s unknown if the drug works.