Ebola patient, now free of symptoms, discharged from Charité in Berlin

Berlin (dpa) – After spending a good two weeks being treated at the Charité in Berlin, an Ebola patient from the US has been discharged from hospital. The doctor, who had contracted the disease in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRK), is in good health, reported the hospital. The latest Ebola outbreak is proving particularly difficult to contain in the DRK, which is where the American doctor was working. The patient thanked the Charité team: “I received first-class care, including experimental therapies currently being trialled for this type of virus.” 

According to the hospital, he had initially been severely weakened and showed typical symptoms of an Ebola virus infection. The symptoms of the disease subsided significantly under combined antiviral therapy and additional supportive medical measures during the first week.  

“We are very pleased with the successful course of treatment and consider this a significant therapeutic success,” said Leif Erik Sander, director of the Department of Infectious Diseases and Critical Care Medicine at Charité. “Charité’s specialised isolation unit has once again proven to be an indispensable component in responding to highly pathogenic infections.”