Tacoma warned of active TB case; TPCHD could seek court order after patient declines meds
The Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department reports it is monitoring an active case of tuberculosis in Tacoma.
The female patient “has declined to take medication,” the department said in a news release Monday.
“We are working with her and her family to try to persuade her to get the treatment she needs to help cure the TB so she can protect herself and others,” the department added.
“Most people we contact are happy to get the treatment they need,” said Nigel Turner, division director of Communicable Disease Control, in a statement. “Occasionally people refuse treatment and isolation. When that happens, we take steps to help keep the community safe.”
Because of the risk of spread, TPCHD has “the legal authority to seek a court order to persuade patients to comply,” the department said in its release, though those incidents are rare, Turner noted.
A court can order home confinement or isolation in jail if a patient refuses to comply.
Turner told FOX 13 TV that the department has only had to pursue legal avenues in TB cases three times in the past two decades.
In 2015, King County health officials obtained a court order to detain a potentially contagious person who did not comply with a full round of TB treatment after taking initial medication doses, according to The Seattle Times. In that case, the patient was confined to electronic-home detention to receive daily treatment after not following through with the prescribed nine-month directly observed therapy by a health worker for each dose.
State law requires health care providers to report all cases of active TB to the health department.
“Our staff works with all patients who have active TB to make sure they get treatment to cure the disease,” the department stated.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, TB is spread through the air “when someone who is sick with TB disease of the lungs or throat coughs, speaks, laughs, sings or sneezes.“
TB can be spread to others “spending extended time with a contagious person in a closed space,” according to the department.
The county sees about 20 cases of active TB each year, TPCHD said, with the state averaging about 200 cases a year.
The disease usually affects a person’s lungs but can happen in other parts of the body, such as the kidneys, brain or spine, according to the CDC.
Symptoms of TB in the lungs can include coughing as well as coughs producing blood, chest pain, weight loss, fever and night sweats. Missed medication dosing can raise the risk of drug-resistant strains.
Untreated active TB “will result in death,” TPCHD said Monday. “People with active, untreated infections are contagious and represent a risk to the community.”
An active case is when someone has symptoms and is contagious, as opposed to latent TB, diagnosed when someone tests positive but shows no symptoms with inactive TB germs.
TB is curable with medication given over a period of time. Patients with active TB are typically isolated at home and monitored regularly by health officials to ensure proper medical dosing to completion.
Latent TB treatment, which does not require isolation, also calls for medication to prevent any future disease activation, with periodic medical check-ins and blood tests to monitor liver function.
