Emory University Hospital
Following Dr. Kent Brantly’s return, Nancy Writebol arrived in the U.S. early on Tuesday, and will also be treated at a special isolated unit in Emory University Hospital in Atlanta.
“We are tremendously relieved that our mother is back in the U.S.,” said Jeremy Writebol, Nancy Writebol’s son. “We know that she will receive the best medical care possible at Emory University Hospital. We’re grateful to everyone who has joined us in praying for this moment. Please continue to pray for her and for Dr. Kent Brantly.”
In an MSNBC interview on Monday, Dr. Bruce Johnson, the president of SIM USA, said that Writebol has been showing signs of improvement.
“She received the second of three doses of the experimental medicine, and she’s up and walking,” he said. Dr. Johnson further explained that her appetite has been improving. “We’re really encouraged by this report.”
Despite signs of improvement, Dr. Johnson and Dr. Frank Esper, an infectious disease specialist at University Hospitals Case Medical Center in Cleveland, explained that it’s too early to tell whether she is truly recovering.
“Seeing how a patient improves over time is kind of like watching the stock market,” said Dr. Esper. “You see these peaks where they’re having good days, and these other times when they’re not having good days, but you look for the trend. And if every day they’re getting a little bit better than the ones that they’ve had previously, then you feel a lot better and more reassured about how well they’re progressing. But it takes more than just one day.”
In lieu of the return of both Dr. Brantly and Writebol, a fear had been spreading amongst Americans that Ebola was entering the country for the first time. Because of the exotic nature of the disease, and reports about the rapid outbreak in West Africa, people expressed concern of the potential of the virus spreading in the U.S.
Dr. Frank Esper, an infectious disease specialist at University Hospitals Case Medical Center in Cleveland, assured the public.
“The contagiousness of this infection usually occurs when the patient is so sick that they are bed-bound,” he explained. “It’s not contracted through very casual contact [such as] being seated near them for a very short period of time.”
Dr. Johnson also explained, “This is something not to be feared because of the infrastructure of medicine that we have across the U.S.”
He added that SIM is taking meticulous measures to watch for signs of the Ebola virus in the other missionaries and volunteers in Liberia. One such measure is taking their temperature four times a day, since one of the telling symptoms of one who contracted Ebola is a spiking fever. He confirmed that none of the others have shown any signs of sickness thus far.
*This article was updated at 4:25 P.M. PST to include Jeremy Writebol's statement.
