Dallas Hospital nurse Nina Pham was tending the first ever Ebola-infected man in the U.S., Thomas Eric Duncan (who passed away on Oct. 8), when she contracted the very same disease shortly after.
The nurse turned into a patient readily and was isolated at Texas Health Presbyterian in Dallas since she was diagnosed with the disease on Sunday, Oct. 12. She was then brought to Bethesda's National Institutes of Health around midnight on Thursday, Oct. 16.
Many think that Pham's "good condition" has worsened as it went down to "fair." Basing on the American Hospital Association scale, Pham's condition, which is now reported to be in "fair condition," went downhill. This is interpreted as the "patient is conscious, but may be uncomfortable."
But Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, was keen to dispel the notions and said that Pham, who he described as a trooper, is not deteriorating but is actually "quite stable." The nurse is reportedly eating and resting comfortably while in a jovial mood.
"We fully intend to have this patient walk out of this hospital, and we will do everything we possibly can to have that happen," Dr. Fauci stated in an interview with ABC News.
"She's interacting with the staff, she's eating... I really think she's doing quite well," deputy clinical director Dr. Richard Davy added.
While the nurse is still being cared for in Maryland, new reports say that Pham's boyfriend may have also contracted the disease. Got News via The Epoch Times, with Alcon CEO Jeff George's email as its source, stated that the nurse's boyfriend was immediately admitted to the hospital and put in quarantine after showing signs of the deadly virus. However, the same email did not confirm that the man is suffering from Ebola.
Another nurse, Amber Vinson, 29, was also infected by the disease after taking care of Duncan. The patient is now being tended in Emory University Hospital in Atlanta.
