KZN woman cleared of virus
2008-10-16 18:03
Johannesburg - Preliminary results appear to rule out the arenavirus in a woman admitted for observation in Durban last weekend, the KwaZulu-Natal health department said on Thursday.
"Preliminary results suggest that the patient suspected to have the arenavirus at Durban's St Augustine's Hospital patient may be cleared," the department said, adding that final results would be known on Friday.
A 29-year-old woman who had worked at the Morningside Medi-Clinic, where people had died of the virus, felt ill while on holiday in Durban and was admitted to hospital on Saturday night.
She was admitted to hospital and blood samples were sent to the National Institute for Communicable Diseases and have come back negative.
"But we will wait until tomorrow for the final results. The patient is recovering and responding well to medication," a department statement said on Thursday.
The department also visited people who had been in contact with her and so far they have been cleared.
They have been advised to report if they get symptoms related to the illness.
Meanwhile, the patient being treated for the virus at the Morningside Medi-Clinic was still stable on Thursday afternoon, spokesperson Melinda Pelser said.
Another 94 people who may have come into contact with the virus are being monitored.
The medical assistant who accompanied a Zambian woman into South Africa as well as the nurse who attended to her died and the virus was finally identified as the arenavirus which is associated with rodents.
- SAPA