Thankfully the Scottish nurse who contracted Ebola while working in West Africa is improved ( " serious but stable " ) after developing meningitis as a late complication of the original infection. Full recovery is likely to take a long time. ( See http://filipinaroses.com/showthread....003#post553003 )


Of course she’s neither the only seriously ill patient to benefit from our NHS, nor the only healthcare worker to contract Ebola. 3% of all the West African cases and 5% ( over 500 ) of the deaths were such workers. Vaccination would be the best solution to prevent or control future outbreaks.


Now that West Africa seems close to being Ebola-free for the present, the focus is going to change towards prevention of future outbreaks, and also the chances of other survivors developing recurrences.


We know that the virus can persist in tissues such as the eyes, nervous system, placenta, prostate, and semen. There has been ( only ) one case of sexual transmission to a woman in Liberia, from a male survivor 5 months after his recovery.


We’re still learning about this virus and the complications of infection after apparent recovery. In the meantime, the known 17,000 ( + ) survivors need to be treated with caution in their recovery from a painful severe illness, with the apparently low risk of recurrence and risk to the public, so they don’t become social outcasts unwilling to be identified.