begin quote ABC News:
US doctor infected with Ebola critically ill but says he is 'cautiously optimistic'
Dr. Peter Stafford is currently hospitalized in Berlin.
The American doctor infected with Ebola said he is "cautiously optimistic" about his health improving amid more severe symptoms.
Dr. Peter Stafford contracted the disease while working with patients in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. He was evacuated to Germany to receive specialty care and is currently hospitalized at Charite University Hospital in Berlin.
"Before I was evacuated I was feeling really concerned I wasn't going to make it, and now I'm cautiously optimistic," Stafford said in a press release from Serge, the international Christian missionary group that employs him.
His colleague, Dr. Scott Myhre, Serge area director for East and Central Africa, said Stafford is critically ill but feeling better than he did on Wednesday, and is able to eat small amounts of food.
Stafford initially experienced what are known as "dry" symptoms such as fever, aches and fatigue.
However, he is currently experiencing "wet" symptoms including vomiting and diarrhea. Myhre said Stafford's laboratory reports are "trending slightly in the right direction."
"Peter has also received two intravenous treatments designed to improve Ebola outcomes," Myhre said in the press release. "The German care teams rotate in three-hour shifts since they must wear full-body hazmat suits as they care for him. We're thankful for their dedication and expertise."
On Wednesday, Stafford's colleague, Matt Allison, executive director of Serge, told ABC News that the doctor has been receiving monoclonal antibodies during his hospitalization.
Stafford's wife, Dr. Rebekah Stafford, and their four children landed in Berlin at 10 p.m. local time Wednesday and have been moved into a separate space at Charite University Hospital. All are asymptomatic and will continue to isolate and be monitored, according to Serge.
The organization added that Stafford's family is able to see him through a window.
Meanwhile, another Serge missionary physician, Dr. Patrick LaRochelle, is currently at Bulovka Hospital in Prague. He is quarantine and remains asymptomatic, Serge said.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security on Wednesday announced new arrival restrictions for flights carrying people who were recently in Democratic Republic of Congo, Uganda or South Sudan amid the Ebola outbreak in the region.
Flights will be ordered to land at Washington-Dulles Airport in Virginia, the notice said, where "enhanced public health measures are being implemented."
A Customs and Border Protection spokesperson told ABC News that Air France boarded a passenger from the Democratic Republic of Congo "in error" on a flight to the United States. The fight was initially bound for Detroit and was diverted to Montreal.
"Due to entry restrictions put in place to reduce the risk of the Ebola virus, the passenger should not have boarded the plane," the spokesperson said.
The Ebola outbreak in the eastern DRC had caused 139 suspected deaths with nearly 600 suspected cases as of Wednesday, according to an update from World Health Organization Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
No comments:
Post a Comment