27 Devastating Infectious Diseases

Tacoma Woman Is Cured Of Tuberculosis After Legal And Medical Intervention

According to the health department: "Pierce County Sheriff's deputies then took the patient to the clinic inside the Pierce County Jail. At that point, she realized how serious her situation was and decided to treat her illness. With her family's help, our disease investigators earned her trust. She began to take her medication and regained her health over time."

Today, the woman has tested negative for tuberculosis multiple times, and "she is no longer at risk of infecting others," the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department said in a statement.

"She gained back weight she'd lost and is healthy again," the statement reads.

Health departments are required to stop the spread of diseases like tuberculosis by state law. According to the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department, a court order is the "last resort."

Pierce County sees about 20 cases of tuberculosis each year.

Woman Went On The Run To Avoid TB Treatment – Now She's Been Cured

Officials in Pierce County, Washington State, have announced that a woman who initially refused to be treated for tuberculosis (TB), even spending three months evading the police in order to do, has successfully been cured of the disease.

Staff from the local health department had been attempting to persuade the Tacoma resident, known only as V.N., to get treated for a TB infection for well over a year. Under most circumstances, people have the right to refuse medical treatment, but in Washington, it's a different matter when it comes to TB.

"State code directs us to prevent the spread of tuberculosis," explained Tacoma-Pierce County Health Officer James Miller in a blog post. "In the unusual situation in which a patient refuses to isolate, we have a legal responsibility to take steps to protect community health. Occasionally, that can include seeking a court order to persuade patients to isolate," he continued, noting that such an approach is used as a very last resort.

A court order was given out to the woman and renewed several times, until in March 2023, a judge found the woman in contempt of court and issued a civil arrest warrant.

The story didn't end there though – V.N. Managed to avoid custody for three months, even taking a bus trip to a local casino. Eventually, however, law enforcement agents caught up with her, and she was taken to Pierce County Jail.

There, said Miller, "she realized how serious her situation was and decided to treat her illness."

TB is a serious illness that primarily affects the lungs and can be fatal when left untreated. In fact, it's the world's most deadly infectious disease, killing 1.5 million out of the 10 million people it infects around the globe each year.

While it's more often seen in low- and middle-income countries, cases of TB in the US have been increasing every year since 2020, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In Washington, an average of four people are diagnosed with TB per week.

The disease is, however, curable (and preventable). Though some drug-resistant forms of TB exist and take a little longer to treat, many infections can be tackled with a one to six-month course of four different antibiotics.

Having spent the last year in custody receiving such treatment, V.N. Has now been successfully cured of TB.

"With her family's help, our disease investigators earned her trust. She began to take her medication and regained her health over time," said Miller. "She's tested negative for tuberculosis (also called TB) multiple times. She gained back weight she'd lost and is healthy again."

Tacoma Woman Cured Of Tuberculosis After Court-ordered Isolation, Treatment

TACOMA, Wash. — A Tacoma woman who was ordered by a Pierce County court to isolate at home for treatment of tuberculosis after she was arrested and jailed last year is finally cured.

The woman, according to the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department, has gained back weight she'd lost and is healthy again. While public health doesn't typically release information on individual patients, they said the woman and her family gave them permission and are happy she got the help she needed.

"We're really happy that we ultimately got to this outcome where she's cured and that means that it protects her health and also it means that she's no longer contagious to anyone else," said Dr. Jay Miller, the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Officer.

RELATEDTacoma woman with tuberculosis released from jail to continue home treatment

The woman was arrested on June 1, 2023, to receive medical treatment in jail for TB. Pierce County deputies arrested the woman after a judge issued a 17th order in May for her to be involuntarily detained for treatment. The woman had been avoiding treatment for the disease for more than a year.

"We never want to be in the position of seeking a court order. That's always our last resort and this was a very unusual situation," Miller said. "However, public health has both an ethical and also a legal obligation to protect the public from tuberculosis and so in rare, rare situations that can involve seeking a court order that requires someone to isolate."

The woman was initially booked into a negative pressure room in the Pierce County jail for her 45-day treatment. "At that point," the TPCHD wrote in an update Monday, "she realized how serious her situation was and decided to treat her illness."

"With her family's help, our disease investigators earned her trust," the TPCHD wrote. "She began to take her medication and regained her health over time."

Halfway through her treatment, a Pierce County judge agreed to release the woman so she could continue receiving care at home in isolation.

The TPCHD said on July 20, 2024, all parties in the case agreed to a court order to end isolation and electronic home monitoring after it was determined the woman was no longer infectious. The TPCHD said the woman tested negative to three consecutive acid-fast bacillus tests.

RELATEDTacoma woman with tuberculosis finally arrested to receive treatment in jail

Officials with the TPCHD previously told KOMO News this was only the third time in 20 years they've had to seek a court order to detain a person for tuberculosis treatment.

The reasons why the woman refused treatment are not being shared publicly. Miller said he wasn't directly involved in this patient's care, which was handled before he took over the health officer position for the agency. However, Miller said people may refuse treatment they need for a variety of reasons.

"Sometimes it's because they don't believe they have tuberculosis. Sometimes it's fear of the medications or potential side effects," Miller said.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), treating tuberculosis can take three to nine months. People who end treatment early, as the Tacoma woman did in the past, can also develop antibiotic resistance. The CDC also said that the disease spreads through the air when a person with tuberculosis coughs, speaks, or sings. The bacteria can then get into the air, and people nearby may breathe in the bacteria and become infected.

Health officials in Pierce County said this case was a rare instance as most people with tuberculosis voluntarily seek treatment or isolation.

RELATEDJudge gives 17th order for Tacoma woman with tuberculosis to self-isolate or go to jail

TB is one of the most common illnesses in the world, with some 10 million new cases every year. The TPCHD, however, only gets reports of about 15 to 25 active cases a year, which is part of the 200 cases reported statewide each year.

Under Washington state law, health officials can seek a court order to persuade patients to comply with treatment. TB is caused by a bacteria that usually attacks the lungs, but the CDC said it could also affect other parts of the body, such as the brain, kidneys, or spine. A blood or skin test can be used to diagnose someone with TB.

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