MOSCOW, October 14 (RIA Novosti), Ekaterina Blinova — Dallas nurse Nina Pham, who was infected with Ebola while treating Thomas Eric Duncan, a Liberian, at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital, has received a plasma transfusion from Dr. Kent Brantly, an Ebola survivor.
"Kent Brantly, a US doctor infected with Ebola this summer while treating patients at a missionary hospital in Liberia, went to the Dallas hospital on Sunday and donated his blood for Pham. The hope is that giving an Ebola victim an injection of blood plasma from a survivor could deliver antibodies that help fight off the virus," the Washington Post reports.
The doctor survived after receiving Z-Mapp, an experimental serum vaccine. The media outlet points out that it is the third time Kent Brantly has donated blood to a patient infected with the Ebola virus. He had previous given blood to an Ebola-positive NBC cameraman and an American doctor who had also contracted the disease. Dr. Brantly had also offered his blood to Thomas Duncan as well, but did not match the Liberian's blood type.
Fortunately, Nina Pham, 26, has the same blood type as Dr. Kent Brantly. Doctors hope that the plasma transfusion the nurse has received will save her life.
Although the nurse and other medical staff wore protective gear while treating the Ebola patient, including gowns, gloves, masks, face shields and body suits, Nina Pham tragically caught the deadly virus, notes the Associated Press.
Since Pham tested positive for Ebola, healthcare authorities have started reviewing the case in order to determine the extent of exposure on other hospital workers.
"We need to consider the possibility that there could be additional cases, particularly among the health-care workers who cared for [Duncan] when he was so ill. We would not be surprised if we did see additional cases," said Thomas Frieden, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, as quoted by the Washington Post.
According to the media source, US government officials stressed on Monday, October 13, that the case had revealed "systematic failures in preparations" undertaken at hospitals and health centers to deal with the virus.
