At least one of the two American aid workers who were infected with the deadly Ebola virus in Africa has recovered and is to be discharged today, Thursday from an Atlanta hospital, a spokeswoman for the aid group he was working for said.
Alison Geist, a spokeswoman for Samaritan's Purse, told The Associated Press she did not know the exact time Dr. Kent Brantly would be released but confirmed it would happen Thursday.
Emory University Hospital planned to hold a news conference Thursday morning to discuss both patients' discharge. Brantly will speak but won't take questions, according to a news release. Emory spokeswoman Holly Korschun did not give further details on either patient, citing privacy concerns.
Franklin Graham, president of North Carolina-based Samaritan's Purse, said in a statement that the group was celebrating Brantly's recovery. He has been in the hospital's isolation unit for nearly three weeks.
Brantly, 33, was flown out of the west African nation of Liberia on Aug. 2, and Nancy Writebol, 59, followed Aug. 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 know 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 also was tried in a Spanish missionary priest, who died, and three Liberian health care workers, who are said to be improving.
No comments:
Post a Comment