WIREDGOV

Blood samples now tested in Scotland

Scotland’s new Ebola testing facility has handled eight blood samples since it was established at the beginning of December. All but one have been negative.

The laboratory has been equipped to test for Ebola since December to reduce the amount of time it takes to get test results for patients in Scotland. Previously samples had to be sent to a facility in England.

Maureen Watt, Minister for Public Health, visited the laboratory at Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh this morning to meet staff and see how the facility operates. The unit is now equipped to test for four kinds of Viral Haemorrhagic Fevers, of which Ebola virus is arguably the best known. This also includes Crimean Congo Haemorrhagic Fever, a case of which was diagnosed in Glasgow in 2012.

The facility provides a round-the-clock service. Once a blood sample arrives a result can be known within around six hours. Previously, blood samples were sent to the facility at Porton Down in Wiltshire, meaning patients and their families had longer to wait for results. The Scottish Government asked NHS Lothian to establish facilities to test for VHF fevers at their existing laboratory in Edinburgh.

Health workers and other returning personnel who have had contact with Ebola patients are screened on return to airports in London, Birmingham and Manchester as well as St Pancras station. Depending on their level of risk they are then asked to monitor their temperature on a daily basis for 21 days, and to report the temperature to local health protection teams. If they report a raised temperature, or other symptoms, they may be brought to one of Scotland’s three regional isolation units and a blood sample sent to Edinburgh for testing.

Since starting operations on 1 December all the Ebola tests carried out at the Edinburgh facility have been negative, apart from that of Pauline Cafferkey, the nurse who remains in Royal Free Hospital after testing positive for Ebola on 29 December.

Maureen Watt, Minister for Public Health, said:

“Scotland is well prepared to cope with any suspected Ebola cases, and the establishment of this facility is just part of that preparation. Once the scale of the west African Ebola outbreak became known, we felt it was important for Scotland to have its own testing facility so we could deliver quicker results and reduce the time that patients have to wait.

“The vast majority of tests are carried out on a precautionary basis, as the number of negative tests shows. The risk to Scotland from Ebola remains very low. It can only be transmitted through contact with an infected person’s body fluids. However, that doesn’t mean that it isn’t an anxious experience for patients, so it’s valuable to be able to turn around the results in a shorter time span.

“Of course, our thoughts remain with Pauline Cafferkey, who continues her treatment at the Royal Free in London. There are many brave men and women who have travelled from Scotland to help tackle Ebola in western Africa. The best way of preventing the spread of this disease is to bring it under control in the affected countries, so we all owe them a debt of thanks for their courageous actions.”

Background:

• The number of Ebola tests carried out in Edinburgh will now be published on a Scotland-wide basis every month.
• The figures will be included in the Health Protection Scotland Weekly Ebola Situation Report on www.hps.scot.nhs.uk on the last Monday of each month.