LONDON, Jan. 3 (UPI) -- Pauline Cafferkey, a Scottish nurse diagnosed with Ebola after volunteering in Sierra Leone, has gotten progressively sicker since she started taking an experimental anti-viral drug earlier this week, doctors said.
The Royal Free Hospital in London said 39-year-old Cafferkey's condition was downgraded to critical on Saturday. Just days ago, she was sitting up and reading.
"The Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust is sorry to announce that the condition of Pauline Cafferkey has gradually deteriorated over the past two days and is now critical," hospital officials said in a written statement.
Cafferkey, from Glasgow, Scotland, is the first person to be diagnosed with the virus in the United Kingdom. On Wednesday, the hospital reported she was sitting up in bed, talking and reading. At that time, she decided to undergo a blood plasma treatment and take an experimental anti-viral drug, the hospital said.
"We are giving her the very best care possible. However, the next few days will be crucial. The disease has a variable course and we will know much more in a week's time," said Dr. Michael Jacobs, infectious diseases consultant at the Royal Free London.
