A Tacoma woman who was arrested last year for repeatedly refusing treatment for tuberculosis has been cured, the release said. Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department.
Health officials tried for over a year to persuade the woman to isolate herself and seek treatment.
In February 2023, the health department filed a 16th warrant in Pierce County Superior Court, a rare “last resort” measure health officials can take to protect the public.
A judge issued a warrant for the woman’s arrest in March 2023 and ordered Pierce County sheriff’s deputies to transport her to the county jail for isolation, testing and treatment, the health department said in a release last year.
Police arrested the woman in June 2023 and had her isolated and treated in a negative pressure room at the prison. “It was at that point that she realized how serious her situation was and decided to seek treatment for her illness,” the health department said.
Later that month, Pierce County Judge Philip Sorenson released the woman on conditions that included court-supervised home isolation.
The woman took the medication and, over time, her health improved and she tested negative for TB multiple times. The woman is cured and TB no longer poses a risk to her health or poses a risk of infecting others, the Ministry of Health said.
The case marks the third time in the past 20 years that health officials have sought a court order to detain someone who is refusing treatment for tuberculosis because they fear he may be infected.
Pierce County sees about 20 active cases of tuberculosis per year. State law requires health care workers to report all active cases to the health department. According to the health department, “nearly every patient we come into contact with is willing to receive the treatment they need to protect themselves and our community.”
Tuberculosis is an infection that usually affects the lungs, but can also affect the lymph nodes, bones, joints, and other parts of the body.
Tuberculosis can be fatal, but it can be cured with medicine.
Health officials say most TB infections are latent or dormant (about 100,000 people in King County have latent TB infection), meaning they have no symptoms and cannot spread the disease.
Health officials say active tuberculosis spreads less easily than the common cold or flu, and infection usually requires repeated, prolonged exposure in enclosed indoor spaces.
In 2022, the number of tuberculosis cases increased globally for the first time in several years. 1.5 million people die from tuberculosis each year worldwide, making it the number one cause of death from an infectious disease, surpassing COVID-19, HIV and AIDS. The World Health Organization.