Ebola update: Nurse Teresa is 'virus-free'
Monday, October 20, 2014 @ 7:57 PM
A NURSE from Madrid infected with Ebola is virus-free, according to tests carried out on her last night (Sunday) - just a week after hospital staff believed she was extremely unlikely to survive.
Teresa Romero, 44, was in a very critical condition on Friday last week and her family were told there was little hope that she would live to tell the tale.
But she has improved dramatically since then and is now off oxygen, eating small amounts of solids and drinking fluids.
A second test between 24 and 48 hours later - between tonight (Monday) and Tuesday evening - will be the deciding factor, since merely testing negative for Ebola on the first occasion is not considered enough to confirm the patient can now be considered mostly recovered.
Even if the second test shows Teresa is negative for Ebola - which appears likely - she will still have to remain in hospital for a while because the virus has caused damage to her lungs, liver and kidneys which need to be 'repaired' through dialysis and medication before she can go home.
As yet, Teresa does not know her dog, Excalibur, has been put to sleep after the regional health authorities obtained a court order to break into her house and put him down.
Teresa's husband, Javier Limón - who has not shown any symptoms of Ebola - refused to give his permission for Excalibur to be put to sleep, but this, and a series of public protests and petitions of over half a million signatures were not enough to save the beloved family pet's life.
Read more at thinkSPAIN.com