Infectious woman who refuses TB treatment FINALLY arrested but only allowed 45 days in jail

An infectious woman who refused to isolate or receive treatment for tuberculosis (TB) has finally been arrested and transferred to Pierce County Jail, where she will be held for up to 45 days.

The patient from Tacoma, Washington state, had refused to self-isolate or take medication since being diagnosed with the contagious bacterial infection more than a year ago.

The woman, deemed a risk to public health and safety by a judge, was seen defying court orders to quarantine while riding a public bus and hanging out at a casino in March.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, TB is the world’s leading killer of infectious diseases, claiming 1.5 million lives each year. However, the vast majority of cases can be easily treated with medication.

Laws allowing the courts to order someone to stay home or isolate from others after being deemed a public health risk are on the agenda in 38 US states, including the three most populous – California, Texas and New York (red)

The number of deaths from tuberculosis has fallen significantly over the past three decades. They’re down from about 1,800 in 1993 to about 600 in 2020, the CDC reports, though they’re now starting to rise again

The woman was held in her home and confined in a negative pressure chamber at the Pierce County Jail.

The room is specially equipped for isolation, testing and treatment to reduce the risk of intra-prison transmission.

The Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department said in an update, “We are hopeful that she will choose to receive the life-saving treatment she needs to manage her tuberculosis.

“Thank you to the Pierce County Sheriff’s Department and deputy sheriffs who supported public health with this necessary intervention.”

It added: “We are working with her and her family to try and persuade her to get the treatment she needs to help cure the TB so she can protect herself and others.”

Nigel Turner, divisional director of the Pierce County health department, said it is always looking for alternatives to detention, but “that was not possible in this case.”

Deputies took the woman into custody on Thursday after a judge issued a civil order detaining her for up to 45 days.

The woman was diagnosed with tuberculosis in January 2022, after reportedly being a passenger in a car accident and going to the emergency room with chest pains.

X-rays showed progressing tuberculosis. She had also tested positive for Covid.

She received her first isolation order in mid-January and more than 20 orders since then, until the contempt order and arrest warrant in March.

According to the March warrant, she was to be held at the Pierce County Jail to be tested and treated for TB until medical tests show she “no longer poses a threat to public health, safety and well-being.”

In April, she was caught in contempt of court for disobeying quarantine orders for taking a city bus while testing positive for TB.

TB is a bacterial infection that spreads through the air from person to person and usually affects the lungs. It can be dangerous and even fatal if left untreated.

BCG vaccination gives up to 80 percent protection in babies and young children, but the injection is less effective against TB in the lungs in adults.

The BCG vaccine is not widely used in America and does not prevent infection.

Symptoms depend on where in the body the TB bacteria grows, but include chest pain, no appetite, chills, and fever.

It is spread when someone infected with TB of the lungs coughs, speaks or sings, but you would have to be in close contact for several hours to catch it.

The TB death rate in 2020 was 0.2 deaths per 100,000 persons, 13 percent higher than in 2019.

Treatment includes a three to nine month course of antibiotics, isoniazid, and rifampicin. Depending on the type and severity of the infection, the medications can be used from daily to weekly.

Documents filed early in the case’s history stated that the woman had begun but not completed the prescribed treatment for tuberculosis.

Pierce County typically sees about 20 cases of active tuberculosis per year.