LONDON -- A Scottish nurse re-admitted to hospital on Friday with a complication related to the Ebola virus, which she contracted as an aid worker in Sierra Leone last year, is now in a "critical condition."
Pauline Cafferkey, 39, who was working for Save the Children in Kerry Town when she contracted Ebola, was transported from Glasgow to an isolation unit at the Royal Free Hospital in Hampstead last week, where she's being treated for a complication in her recovery. It was thought she had made a full recovery from the disease and was discharged from an earlier hospitalisation in January.
"We are sad to announce that Pauline Cafferkey’s condition has deteriorated and she is now critically ill. Pauline is being treated for Ebola in the high level isolation unit at the Royal Free Hospital," the hospital said in a statement on its website on Wednesday.
Over the weekend, her family said she received bad medical advice in Scotland when she recently fell ill. They told the Sunday Mail newspaper she went to a Glasgow hospital on Oct. 5, but was sent home even though the doctor assessing her knew of her earlier Ebola treatment.
Four days later she was flown by military plane into London for treatment in the isolation ward. Her family said doctors had missed a big opportunity to treat her earlier.
Cafferkey was honoured at the Pride of Britain Awards in London last month and met with Prime Minister David Cameron's wife, Samantha, at 10 Downing St.
PM: My thoughts are with Pauline Cafferkey and her family today. She is in the care of experts and I wish her a quick recovery— UK Prime Minister (@Number10gov) October 9, 2015
Since Ebola broke out in Guinea's forest region last year, it has killed more than 11,200 people in West Africa, in the largest recorded outbreak of the virus.
Doctors are learning more about how long Ebola persists in the body and may affect survivors over the long-term.
Additional reporting from The Associated Press.