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 "I'm so grateful to be well," Amber Vinson, 29, told reporters at
Emory University Hospital before hugging the doctors and nurses who
had treated her since her Oct. 15 arrival. "And first and foremost I
want to thank God."
During an appearance on the White House South Lawn to talk about the
U.S. response to Ebola, Obama said he had spoken with Vinson by
telephone and that she is "doing well."
The hospital declared Vinson virus-free on Friday, but she spent
four more days in the facility before being discharged.
"While this is a day for celebration and gratitude, I ask that we
not lose focus on the thousands of families who continue to labor
under the burden of this disease in West Africa," said Vinson,
smiling broadly and looking vibrant.
Vinson then took a private flight from Atlanta to Dallas but did not
speak to reporters upon arrival at the airport, Love Field.
The infections of the nurses in a Dallas hospital at the beginning
of October illustrated the initial lack of preparedness in the U.S.
public health system to deal safely with Ebola, which has killed
about 5,000 people in three impoverished West African countries -
Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone - and raised fears of a wider
outbreak.
The other nurse who worked at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital in
Dallas, Nina Pham, 26, was declared virus-free on Friday, left the
Maryland hospital where she had been treated and immediately met
with Obama in the White House Oval Office.
Vinson is the fourth patient successfully treated for Ebola at
Emory's hospital.
Vinson and Pham treated Liberian Thomas Eric Duncan, who had
traveled to Dallas in late September. He was the first patient
diagnosed with Ebola in the United States. He died on Oct. 8.
"After a rigorous course of treatment and thorough testing, we have
determined that Miss Vinson has recovered from her infection with
Ebola virus and that she can return to her family, to the community
and to her life without any concerns about transmitting this virus
to any other individuals," Emory University Hospital's Dr. Bruce
Ribner told reporters.
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Ribner added, “We all recognize that there is a lot of anxiety, and
that is understandable. But the American healthcare system has been
successfully able to treat patients with the Ebola virus."
Ribner said a great deal has been learned by Emory’s team after
treating the four patients with Ebola, particularly concerning
things such as fluid and electrolyte management.
He said there is now a changed mindset on how aggressive care
providers can be in treating Ebola patients. The general belief had
been that patients who were ill enough to require a ventilator or
dialysis were likely to die and so those treatments were not
worthwhile, he said.
“That is certainly not the case,” Ribner said. “I think we have
changed the algorithm for how aggressive we are going to be willing
to be in the care of patients with Ebola virus disease.”
Emory's Ribner also weighed in on the debate over state policies
such as those in New York and New Jersey that force medical workers
returning after treating Ebola patients in West Africa into a 21-day
quarantine. He said states must do "a very delicate balancing act"
as they decide whether to quarantine the returning healthcare
workers, but "we must not let fear get in the way."
(Additional reporting by Colleen Jenkins; Writing by Will Dunham;
Editing by Jonathan Oatis)
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