--- title: Condition of Scottish Nurse Who Had Ebola Relapse Worsens description: "She is now critically ill" canonical: https://time.com/4074377/pauline-cafferkey-ebola-nurse-critically-ill/ author: Rishi Iyengar article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-10-15T06:10:28.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:57:29.081Z article:section: Health og:title: Scottish Nurse's Condition Deteriorates From Ebola Relapse og:description: Pauline Cafferkey is now "critically ill," a London hospital said. og:url: https://time.com/4074377/pauline-cafferkey-ebola-nurse-critically-ill/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1c114df0e409bd0f/69886862196cf407d303888e/gettyimages-460991168.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: BRITAIN-HEALTH-EBOLA og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Scottish Nurse's Condition Deteriorates From Ebola Relapse twitter:description: Pauline Cafferkey is now "critically ill," a London hospital said. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1c114df0e409bd0f/69886862196cf407d303888e/gettyimages-460991168.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Condition of Scottish Nurse Suffering From Ebola Relapse Deteriorates ## Video: How Suits Protect Doctors From Ebola [Watch (HLS stream): How Suits Protect Doctors From Ebola](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/O5USUvDI.m3u8) (2:12)  _Published 2014-08-04. While people rely on doctors to stop the Ebola outbreaks in Sierra Leone, Guinea, and Liberia, doctors rely on suits to protect them._ by [Rishi Iyengar](https://time.com/author/rishi-iyengar/) ## Rishi Iyengar Oct 15, 2015 6:10 AM UTC  A picture shows a general view of the Royal Free Hospital in London on Jan. 3, 2015 A picture shows a general view of the Royal Free Hospital in London on Jan. 3, 2015Justin Tallis—AFP/Getty Images by [Rishi Iyengar](https://time.com/author/rishi-iyengar/) ## Rishi Iyengar Oct 15, 2015 6:10 AM UTC Scottish nurse Pauline Cafferkey, recently readmitted to a London hospital because of “late” complications following her recovery from Ebola, has taken a turn for the worse, the hospital [said](https://www.royalfree.nhs.uk/news-media/news/update-on-pauline-cafferkey/) Wednesday. “We are sad to announce that Pauline Cafferkey’s condition has deteriorated and she is now critically ill,” read a statement from London’s Royal Free Hospital, where the 39-year-old has been in the high-level isolation unit for nearly a week. Cafferkey was transferred to Royal Free [last Friday](http://time.com/4067694/ebola-scottish-nurse-pauline-cafferkey-isolation-unit/) after going into a National Health Service clinic in Glasgow for an illness. She had previously recovered from an Ebola infection she caught while treating patients in Sierra Leone — one of the three West African countries where an outbreak last year claimed over 11,000 lives. It has been deemed possible for the Ebola virus to remain inside the body long after one has stopped displaying symptoms, and Cafferkey’s family members criticized her treatment by doctors when she went in for a checkup last Tuesday but was told she could go home. “At that point, me and my family believe they missed a big opportunity to give the right diagnosis and we feel she was let down,” her sister Toni said in an [interview](http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/family-condemns-hospital-failures-after-6612236) with the _Sunday Mail_ newspaper. “I think it is absolutely diabolical the way she has been treated.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4074377/pauline-cafferkey-ebola-nurse-critically-ill/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4074377/pauline-cafferkey-ebola-nurse-critically-ill/"},"headline":"Condition of Scottish Nurse Suffering From Ebola Relapse Deteriorates","datePublished":"2015-10-15T06:10:28.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T07:57:29.081Z","description":"\"She is now critically ill\"","url":"https://time.com/4074377/pauline-cafferkey-ebola-nurse-critically-ill/","keywords":["infectious diseases","london","Sierra Leone","ebola","Nurse","Scotland topic"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1c114df0e409bd0f/69886862196cf407d303888e/gettyimages-460991168.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Rishi Iyengar","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/rishi-iyengar/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1c114df0e409bd0f/69886862196cf407d303888e/gettyimages-460991168.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"BRITAIN-HEALTH-EBOLA","caption":"BRITAIN-HEALTH-EBOLA","creditText":"Justin Tallis—AFP/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/infectious-diseases/","name":"infectious diseases"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4074377/pauline-cafferkey-ebola-nurse-critically-ill/","name":"Condition of Scottish Nurse Suffering From Ebola Relapse Deteriorates"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"How Suits Protect Doctors From Ebola","description":"While people rely on doctors to stop the Ebola outbreaks in Sierra Leone, Guinea, and Liberia, doctors rely on suits to protect them.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/O5USUvDI/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2014-08-04T22:03:18.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/O5USUvDI.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4074377/pauline-cafferkey-ebola-nurse-critically-ill/","duration":"PT2M12S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4074377/pauline-cafferkey-ebola-nurse-critically-ill/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```