Scots nurse infected with ebola ‘because she wore visor instead of goggles’

THE Scots nurse who contracted the ebola virus may have done so because she was wore a visor instead of goggles while treating patients, an investigation has revealed.

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Pauline Cafferkey was struck down with the illness after returning from Sierra Leone

A report by the charity Save the Children, for whom she was working, says  that was the “most likely” cause.

Pauline Cafferkey, 39, spent more than three weeks fighting for her life after being struck down shortly after returning from Sierra Leone.

The nurse has since made a full recovery.

Save the Children, which operates the health centre in Kerry Town, where she worked, said Ms Cafferkey, from Cambuslang, had been trained to use a visor but could not use the goggles “because she could not get them to fit properly”.

She could not use the goggles “because she could not get them to fit properly”

Justin Forsyth, the charity’s chief executive, said: “We will never be 100 per cent sure how Pauline contracted ebola but the independent panel found that it is most likely, though not conclusive, she acquired her illness while working at the Ebola Treatment Centre at Kerry Town.

“Although there is no conclusive evidence, the panel suggests that Pauline’s use of a visor, within a context geared to the use of goggles, was the most likely cause of her contracting ebola.”

Ms Cafferkey, who works at Blantyre Health Centre in Lanarkshire, was treated with experimental drug ZMabb and plasma taken from the blood of recovered patients.

After being discharged from the Royal Free Hospital in London last month, she said: “I just want to get back to normal, get my strength back and eventually return to work.

“I’ll be having a break from aid work. I’ve no plans to return at the mo­­ment but who knows in the future?”

She intends to donate her blood plasma to help others fight ebola.

Meanwhile, Britons who have travelled to West Africa to help fight ebola will be eligible for a new medal, the Prime Minister has revealed.

David Cameron said yesterday that he would recommend the new award to the Queen as a mark of the “immense debt of gratitude” owed to an estimated 2,000 workers.

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