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Texas nurse declared Ebola-free, discharged from NIH Clinical Center
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The first nurse from Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas who became infected with Ebola while caring for the first case in the United States has been declared free of Ebola.
Nina Pham was discharged today from the NIH Clinical Center, where she was transferred last week. Anthony Fauci, MD, director of the National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Disease, said she has had five negative PCR tests.
Anthony Fauci
“We did five PCRs because this is a research institution, but that’s not the norm,” Fauci said during a press conference at the NIH. “We provided her with supportive care, which is one of the most important things in bringing an Ebola patient back to health.”
The second nurse, Amber Vinson, also has tested negative for Ebola virus, according to a statement from Emory University Hospital. She remains hospitalized there.
Fauci said Pham did not receive any experimental treatments, but she did receive plasma donated by Kent Brantly, MD, the physician who contracted Ebola while performing humanitarian work in Liberia and was later transferred to Emory University Hospital.
Fauci also said they were able to collect significant laboratory data and that the NIH and colleagues at Emory University Hospital and the Nebraska Medical Center are comparing notes from their respective patients to try to understand more about Ebola.
“It’s important for people to understand that there is the public health issue, and there’s the scientific issue of understanding what’s going on,” Fauci said. “Primarily, the care of the patient is first. But together with that is to get more information that can help others.”
The limited number of patients with Ebola makes it important to focus and get as much information as possible to learn more about the disease, Fauci said. He stressed that it is impossible to know exactly what aspect of treatment helped patients the most because all the treatments are experimental, and it is impossible to say why Pham and other patients have had a much speedier recovery than patients in West Africa, where the Ebola mortality rate is approximately 70%.