Dallas Nurse Battling Ebola Says She’s ‘Doing Well’
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Will Montgomery(DALLAS) — Dallas nurse Nina Pham, who contracted Ebola while treating a Liberian patient who died of the disease, issued an upbeat statement Tuesday saying that she is “doing well.”
Pham has received a potentially life-saving transfusion from Dr. Kent Brantly, the missionary doctor who beat the virus two months ago, ABC News has learned.
Brantly flew to Dallas on Sunday, one day after Pham tested positive for the virus, sources said. He donated his blood, packed with antibodies that should fight the disease.
Pham, 26, expressed her gratitude Tuesday in a statement issued by Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Dallas where she worked and is now a patient.
“I’m doing well and want to thank everyone for their kind wishes and prayers. I am blessed by the support of family and friends and am blessed to be cared for by the best team of doctors and nurses in the world here at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Dallas,” she said in her statement.
Hospital CEO Barclay Berdan said the hospital staff “are working tirelessly to help her in this courageous fight.”
Members of Our Lady of Fatima Church in Fort Worth, Texas — the church that Pham’s family attends — held a special mass on Monday. Rev. Jim Khoi said the family remains hopeful.
“She’s doing well, she’s being treated very well, and she feels comfortable,” Khoi said.
Brantly’s blood donation was welcome information for Pham’s family and friends, Khoi said. “I think that is very good news right there,” he said.
As the 26-year-old remains in isolation, health officials still aren’t sure how she contracted Ebola.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is doubling its manpower at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital, and Director Dr. Thomas Frieden says the agency is reconsidering its approach to Ebola.
Pham may not be the only person that became infected while treating Duncan, Frieden said.
“It is possible that other individuals could have been infected,” Frieden said.
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