A woman with tuberculosis who refused treatment is quarantined and medicated against her will after a judge found her a risk to public safety.
The unnamed patient – from Tacoma, Washington – has refused to isolate or take any medication since being diagnosed with the contagious bacterial infection, which is treated with antibiotics.
Public health officials followed a court order after speaking with the woman and her family and failing to persuade them to quarantine and seek treatment.
“The local health officer requests an order that[die Patientin]urging them to self-isolate in their homes and to cooperate with testing and treatment as recommended by medical providers,” the court documents state.
“It’s less restrictive than a detention center; however, if such measures are not effective, more stringent measures may be required.”
The order is possible under a law enacted by state officials in the 1990s that allows courts to act if they deem the refusal of treatment to be a risk to public health.
The number of tuberculosis cases in the US has fallen dramatically since 1993, from nearly 25,000 cases in 1993 to less than 10,000 for much of the late 2010s
The number of deaths due to tuberculosis has decreased significantly over the past three decades. They have declined from about 1,800 in 1993 to about 600 in 2020, the CDC reports.
It comes amid fears that once-eradicated diseases such as polio and measles will return this year as anti-vaccination sentiment and distrust of doctors grows in America.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) warns that tuberculosis cases have increased during the Covid pandemic – reversing a downward trend since the early 1990s. Cases have also increased worldwide during the reign of the virus.
The Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department announced the discovery of the case last week.
Tuberculosis is a very dangerous airborne disease that spreads through prolonged exposure to others.
Treatment involves three to nine months of treatment with the antibiotics isoniazid and rifampicin. Depending on the type and severity of the infection, the medication can be used daily to weekly.
“Most of the people we come into contact with are satisfied with the treatment they need,” Nigel Turner, a Tacoma health official, said in a statement.
“Sometimes people refuse treatment and isolation. When this happens, we take action to protect the community.”
Officials said they have a “duty” and “legal authority” to seek a court order on these matters.
The federal government allows states to monitor public health within their borders. The CDC is responsible for preventing cross-border transmission.
Laws that allow courts to order someone to stay home or isolate themselves from others after being identified as a public health risk are on the books in 38 US states, including the three most populous of California, Texas and New York (red).
The woman is being forced to isolate and undergo treatment for the disease until it is no longer considered a public health risk (file photo)
This means that states can set their own laws to determine how they want to deal with health threats such as deadly infectious diseases.
A notable example of this was during the Covid pandemic, when US states had very different policies regarding masks, stay-at-home orders and vaccination requirements.
RCW 70.28.031, passed in 1996, allows law enforcement to use quarantine or medication if the courts deem it a health risk.
According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, 38 US states have such laws on their books. This includes California, New York and Texas.
The case was confirmed to The News Tribune. Officials also said they had to use law enforcement to arrest a tuberculosis patient three times in the past 20 years.
DailyMail.com contacted Tacoma-Pierce health officials.
Officials report that the unnamed woman was injured in a car accident earlier this year.
She did not tell the doctors about her illness and the doctors did not know until they discovered it on X-rays.
Tuberculosis diagnoses are rising for the first time in 20 YEARS worldwide
The WHO reported that 10.6 million people will have TB by 2021, an increase of 4.5 percent.
Officials then tried to convince her to seek treatment for the disease — which she refused — before finally filing the court order.
They can request that the woman be quarantined under Washington law, which allows these measures to be taken in cases deemed to pose a risk to public health.
She will now be forced to self-quarantine and receive treatment for her illness. The whole process can take up to nine months.
The woman’s age, race and name have not been released for confidentiality reasons.
These laws generally leave the decision about who is forced into self-isolation to the discretion of a single judge.
While these orders have rarely, if ever, been applied to individuals during the Covid pandemic, they have been used to force businesses to close or enforce mask and vaccine orders.
It is unclear why the Washington woman chose not to quarantine or take medication.
But in some similar previous cases, patients were afraid of the side effects of the treatment.
Many Americans have also lost faith in the medical field in recent years as part of a growing anti-vaccine and anti-drug trend.
Some people may also refuse medication because of their religious beliefs or mental health issues.
Tuberculosis was a major threat to Americans and much of the world before these drugs were widely available.
In 1993, nearly 25,000 cases and 1,800 deaths from bacterial infections were recorded, according to the CDC.
Widespread use of the drugs [REPETITION
The US has suffered 7,100 cases of the disease and 600 deaths in 2020. The death rate from the disease is about 10 percent in America.
These rates rose slightly during the Covid pandemic, with cases rising 10 percent and deaths nearly 20 percent between 2020 and 2021.
But in countries where antibiotics are not as readily available, up to 50 percent of cases can lead to death.
The tuberculosis vaccine known as BCG injection is used in countries where the drugs are difficult to obtain. It only reduces the risk of infection by 13 percent, which is far below normal standards.
Tuberculosis cases of the lungs and throat are contagious, but cases of the brain and spine are usually fatal.
These cases can cause meningitis, swelling of the tissues covering the brain and spinal cord, and can lead to death.
If left untreated, tuberculosis infection can spread from one part of the body to another.
WHAT IS TUBERCULOSIS?
Tuberculosis (TB) is a bacterial infection that is transmitted between people through coughing and sneezing.
The infection usually affects the lungs, but the bacteria can cause problems in any part of the body, including the abdomen, glands, bones and nervous system.
TB infection causes symptoms such as fever, cough, night sweats, weight loss, tiredness and fatigue, loss of appetite and swelling in the neck.
When the immune system cannot contain TB bacteria, it can take weeks or months for the infection to rear its ugly head and cause symptoms, and if left untreated, can be fatal.
The infection usually affects the lungs, but the bacteria can cause problems in any part of the body, including the abdomen, glands, bones and nervous system
TB is most common in less developed countries in sub-Saharan Africa and West Africa, Southeast Asia, Russia, China and South America.
Source: healthcare
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Crystal Leahy is an author and health journalist who writes for The Fashion Vibes. With a background in health and wellness, Crystal has a passion for helping people live their best lives through healthy habits and lifestyles.
