More on the latest TB debacle
Early yesterday, I noted the story of a TB-infected woman who was able to fly unimpeded earlier this month and is now in isolation in northern California. There are more details today in the San Francisco Chronicle:
A 30-year-old Sunnyvale woman, recently back from a stay in India, is in an isolation unit at Stanford Hospital with a tough-to-treat strain of tuberculosis, and health officials are scrambling to find any people with whom she may have come into close contact.
The woman, whose name has not been released, was reportedly diagnosed with multidrug-resistant TB while in India and was being treated for the disease before she returned to the Bay Area on Dec. 13.
“She was sick when she got on her airplane,” said Joy Alexiou, a spokeswoman for Santa Clara County’s Public Health Department.
The authorities have finally seen fit to release specifics on her flight and whereabouts:
County health officials, along with the national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, are tracking down people who might have been exposed to the disease. The people who shared the emergency room with the woman on Dec. 19 already have
been notified, as has her family, Fenstersheib said.The CDC has identified 44 people from 16 states who were within two rows of the woman on American Airlines Flight 293 from New Delhi to Chicago’s O’Hare airport on Dec. 13. On Thursday, the CDC sent health officials in the 16 states a list of the names and asked for help in having them tested for TB.
This woman’s selfishness and recklessness cannot be understated. Let me repeat the second paragraph of the story:
The woman, whose name has not been released, was reportedly diagnosed with multidrug-resistant TB while in India and was being treated for the disease before she returned to the Bay Area on Dec. 13.
She knew what she had before she got on the plane. She exposed other people to the TB. She didn’t bother to tell anyone.
Rotten. Just rotten.
She deserves to be named and shamed so that other idiots can be deterred.
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The CDC has identified 44 people from 16 states who were within two rows of the woman on American Airlines Flight 293 from New Delhi to Chicago’s O’Hare airport on Dec. 13.
Now how many of them are infected and then how many of them have infected others. Its exponential. People traveling to third world destinations and not taking any precautions. The lack of common courtesy to thier fellow man (oh I am sick so I will go out in public, not covering mouth when coughing, ect.)
India is just as bad if not worse then Latin America when it comes to health standards and not trying to spread infectious things.
These people who just want to travel and not get innoculated before hand, take the proper precautions, should be prosecuted for thier negligence in spreading infections.
Yes. Common civility and respect for others should be placed on some sort of endangered list.
Nice.
I feel sorry for those poor people who were exposed. My husband was exposed to TB in High School while on a mission trip (to West VA) and had to go on a course of medication that he said made him feel like he constantly had the flu. I suppose if it’s a drug resistant TB they might not take the same course of action though.
Makes me want to drive everywhere rather than fly.
I think criminal charges should be made when someone knowingly exposes others to a serious, possibly deadly disease. Criminal negligence or something. This is appalling.
I would like to know her political affiliation. This might give insight to her attitude of not giving a sh#t about other’s health.(Left Coast) katie I agree this women had full knowledge of the disease and the reprecutions of it. They prosecute people with AIDS willfully spreading the disease why not her.
American must be flying extremely wide-bodied airplanes these days…
So many people living in this country today ( and I mean natural born as well as
naturalized and illegal) do not care about anyone other than number one. You
cannot shame these people. If you publish their names they will just welcome
their 15 minutes of fame or try to sue someone. Nevermind that she is absolutely
guilty of intentionally trying to infect others with her disease.
Did this flight stop at San Francisco or was it non-stop to O’Hare? If non-stop, how did she get to California from IL? Did she infect others on another flight? How about the crew on this flight did they infect others on another flight before this was discovered? Just wondering?????
Well some states have laws that will criminalize those who knowingly have AIDS and have unprotected sex without telling their partners.
Why can’t this be the same? TB is a dangerous and deadly disease.
Why am I not surprised to find that this woman lives near San Francisco?
She needs to be isolated in prison! What is the difference between her exposing others to a fatal disease, and an AIDS infectee exposing others, knowing all along, that they were infected?
Showing that she had no concern what-so-ever for others, makes me want the same for her…yet, some idealists expect the “village” to have compassion!
Since she can afford to fly back and forth from India, I hope she can afford to pay her own medical bills…or will the libs argue that she has the “right” to public funds, since TB is a public threat?
TSA=Transmitting Sickness with Authority.
I’m not ready to throw this lady under the bus. It says she was being treated for TB. What we don’t know is if a doctor in India told her if it was ok to fly or not.
Also I thought conservatives were for protecting the privacy of others. Why all the calls to publish her name? We don’t have enough information to make an informed opinion about what this lady did or did not do.
I don’t believe the woman did it with the deliberate intent of infecting others, but it is clear she did not care and was grossly irresponsible. I suspect the thought of the harm she might cause never entered her mind.
Lately I’ve been thinking that perhaps we need a new category of crimes: instead of “hate crimes,” crimes of indifference. On the other hand, do we need more laws? If one or more persons were infected by her actions, became ill or died as a result, the case for manslaughter would be strong. Likely some lawsuits could come out of this, but that is a cause for despair as well. Any lawsuits would be directed against the airlines, the government of course being immune.
Which makes me wonder: we’re never going to be able to put a stop to this, unless citizens have the power to sue the government for failing to do its core job (i.e. protect them.) That includes upholding the constitution, which our lords and masters take an oath to defend. Democrats love trial lawyers so much, why not recruit some of them (lawyers, that is) to bite the hand that feeds them? There might be big bucks in it, so there should be plenty of eager recruits. The system might consume itself, eventually . . .
Right_On,
Drugs to treat TB are usually paid for by the county or the state whether one has insurance or not. The cost to society to not cover TB treatment is just too great to risk.
I find myself in a rather uncomfortable position here. I’m not trying to defend this woman’s actions, by any means. However, in her defense, I would ask you all if you were in a foreign country, separated from family(which I can only speculate as to this woman’s status), and became ill, would you rather (a) stay in the country you are visiting, accepting health care from them, with the distinct possibility that you might die; or (b) try your best to get home to be with family and friends, receiving healthcare in a familiar surrounding, with the distinct possibility that you STILL might die?
As I said, I’m not by any means defending this woman’s actions, in view of the fact that she did know what she had, and just how serious it is. I’m only trying to point out what might have been going through her head at the time.
I’ll wager that many of us, if given such a bleak choice, might opt to be near family and friends in what might possibly be our final hours.
I can’t speak for anyone but myself, though. It would be a decision that would be awfully difficult to make.
I do wonder, though, as to why the treating doctors allowed her to leave the hospital. I know we have the right to refuse treatment if we wish, and can make our wishes known, but because of the nature of the disease, and the distinct danger to others, would that not sway the attending physicians?
I firmly believe that there is as much blame in this case to be laid upon the medical community as there is on this woman.
BTW, DeepDiver, Sunnyvale is about forty miles south of San Francisco, and, while it IS in the “Bay Area,” folks over there consider themselves to be a cut above San Francisco by virtue of the fact they are in what they consider to be the birthplace of “Silicon Valley.”
We are for privacy, when it comes to protecting a person for the right reasons. This is not an issue of privacy, but rather an issue of personal responsibility. Another token of conservatism.
What we have here someone with reckless disregard for the public health and those close to her as well.
By exposing her name, others who deal with her on a daily basis, be it her employer, the grocery checkout person, the postman, have a right to now. Those who have had close contact with her. They may be at risk for sickness, or if immune-impaired, even death.
This is not about protecting her privacy, this about protecting the general public at large.
The fact that she didn’t bother to tell anyone is what makes the difference, cpodug. I am sure that there are sick people in a foreign country who have to travel home and they take necessary precautions to prevent others from catching their disease. It can be done. Who wouldn’t want to go home. However, and this is a huge however, you should be a decent enough person to have concern about your fellow travelers and do what you can to prevent their exposure to your illness.
If I were someone who was unfortunate enough to get TB from being exposed to this woman, I would sue her ass off. And I am not one who believes in suing people whip nilly either.
For any adult, with even a smidgen of intelligence, NOT knowing the potentially fatal consequences of exposing others to a known airborne contagion, defies common sense. DO NOT make the mistake of giving this woman the benefit of the doubt!
What she did is nothing more than a crime against humanity! How can one make that point any more clear…throw in an emotional “what about the children she exposed” argument?
katieanne, as I said, I’m not even remotely trying to defend her. But, and this is the only thing I’m trying to point out, if you were in that position, even knowing just how your trip would affect your fellow passengers, it might be tempting to not say anything, just to get home. I noted that it was a couple of days after she got back before she turned herself in.
The thought processes of terminally ill patients are a wonder to behold, sometimes. After the “WHY ME” phase, it usually turns to where you are, and what you have to do to get home. which I’m sure was the case here.
No defense, and if I was one of her fellow travelers, and I contracted TB, I would join you in your suit.
Ah, thank you for the additional information. I have visited the area but was not aware of the sharply drawn distinction. I will correct my post:
Why am I not surprised to find that this woman lives near San Francisco in an area even more arrogant, snotty and self-righteous than Frisco itself?
Better?
Seriously though, you made some good points about her probably mental state, cpodug. And I think you really did make the point about how selfish this woman was. While I well understand that if she did understand the potential seriousness of the disease that she would have wanted to be near home with American health care, that still does not excuse her putting everyone else she was contacting at risk.
Actually, my parents travel internationally rather extensively. We have discussed this issue over the years and they have actually purchased insurance that would pay to fly them home on a medical flight if they contracted a contagious disease, assuming it was such that US authorities would allow entry. But then, my parents are very kind, selfless, intelligent people who care very much about other people so they found it prudent to have such insurance to prevent ever having to make such a choice.
Tell me, please, that you would not consider doing what this woman did, just to get home. That, in my mind, is a basically flawed thought process.
Let’s pray that no one exposed to this woman gets TB, cpodug. I am not one who likes to fly anyway and this story just increases my desire to drive where I’m going.
LMAOROF
right_on, I’d like to think I wouldn’t. I’d like to believe that I’m more honorable than that. I spent 22 years in the service of my country, which I love more than you could ever imagine. However, we are all weak. If we were to have to face such a decision, who knows? Everything in me tells me I would rather die than put somebody else in jeopardy. Faced with a life-or-death decision? Flawed thought process though it might be, we are all human, and at some point the survival instinct kicks in. I can’t speak for this woman. I’m not defending her. All I’m trying to do is point out what might have been going through her mind.
But, as I said earlier, I still fault the medical establishment just as much as I fault her. Why did they release her?
cpodug
I do understand what you are sayng, but my point is, that once we try to “see all sides” in a situation which is morally, and ethically wrong, we sometimes fall into an emotional trap we set for ourselves.
Trying to “understand” where this woman’s thought process failed, or why, is a futile exercise. There can be no excuse for what she did. As human beings, we have free agency…that is, the freedom to choose what we do or do not do. She chose poorly…I feel sorrow for her, and her family, but I choose not to be compassionate towards her because of her inhumane decision to take others with her.
Short of putting her in solitary detention to prevent her from leaving, how could any medical establishment, or government for that matter, be held accountable?
Having been exposed to TB myself, and having taken the INH (pills) for it, I can testify to something that others who have not been through this ordeal do not know… Doctors do not always tell you the difference between being exposed and being infected. It is possible, though unlikely, that she thought that she had been exposed but was not a carrier of active TB. I know that when I failed my skin test, the doctor never told me the difference, only that I hda TB. I thought I was infected and tried to avoid spreading the disease to others, until a pharmacist informed me that I would not be taking that particular med if I was actually infected with contagious TB. Now, if the woman is actually from a place where a lot of people are exposed but never infected, then she probbly thought she was just exposed. In that light, it is probable that the blame lies with the doctor who failed to inform her that she was contagious. As an aside, I firmly believe that people that carry contagious TB, ebola, smallpox, etc should be quarantined immediately upon diagnosis… If I were diagnosed with such a disease, I would want to be quarantined, where I could get immediate and constant medical attention until cured or until the end.
Well said right_on, #26.
True, #27. Thats what happened to my hubby. He failed the skin test and can never take one again. He was exposed, not infected. We do need to know if she was exposed or actually infected.
Doesn’t that mean she was actually infected, if she was diagnosed with TB and put into isolation upon her return?
#30,
Yes, she would have had some kind of positive culture (probably sputum) for them to know it was multi-drug resistant TB.
Let’s not forget the bigger threat.
Illegals crossing the borders every second of every day, infesting our country with diseases.
I blame our government for the many deaths to come due to once eradicated diseases – returning to the USA.
I’m sure it is very difficult to find out you have such a disease when you are far from home. It still does not give you the right to expose others to your disease just because you want to be home with your family and medical facilities that you trust more.
Some people out there have compromised immune systems (transplant patients, kidney patients, people with diabetes, etc) who could be very easily killed by exposure to something like this.
I don’t mean to be disrepectful, but consider this: Would you still be trying to understand her ‘side’ of things if it was your elderly grandmother that died because of her desire to be back home? How about a cousin with Diabetes? A sister in law that just had breast surgery to remove a cancer?
Think about it. She clearly did not.
TB is not as easy to contract as everyone is making it sound, although the recycled air onboard an aircraft does, indeed, help. However, just coming into contact with an infected person is not enough to spread the disease. Many health Care Providers test positive every year for exposure and NEVER actually contract this disease.
The spectre of TB has earned its place amongst the worlds scariest diseases, and we can actually thank Liberalism and heir acceptance of the heroin junkies and professional “Residentially Challenged Urban Nomads”, (bums and winos) along with their huge welcome mat they have out for all those “Undocumented Citizens” living in he shadows working all hose jobs Americans can’t…I mean won’t work for this super strain.
While still caught the same way, it has mutated to show resistance to all previous treatments.
If you are healthy individual, you generally need not worry. It is spread from the water droplets of an infected individual into mucous glnds such as eyes, mouth, nose. Don’t have people cough on or near you. Wash you hands and use hand saniyizer. Keep clean and avoid recent immigrants or people who have returned from over seas with flu or cold like symptoms.
This health advisory brought to you today bby your Compassionate Conservative Paramedic
I think there’s just not enough info to panic yet. Even if she was infected, she would have to have an active case of TB – actually coughing, etc. in order to be contagious.
Andrew Speaker was never contagious and he was vilified by everyone. There are many carriers out there who never become sick and never infect anyone.
The greater concern should be illegals who are never screened for disease. That’s where the increase in TB cases (and other diseases) is coming from.
re: #26 right_on
Right on, right_on!
She is infectious — just heard on Fox News. She was also being treated while she was in India prior to her flight home.
She’s in isolation now until she is no longer infectious.
This is a multi-drug resistant form, and people that flew on that long flight back should be concerned.
There are thousands, upon thousands of Indian immigrants living in CA..If she was returning home to visit relatives she has some of the finest medical facilities in that part of the world to treat her. For gosh sakes, millions of people are going to India on “medical vacations” for treatment of conditions the patients cannot afford in the U.S., Canada, Europe or Australia. She would also have had a support base to take care of her if she were visiting relatives there. If she was an ordinary tourist from the U.S. to India – perhaps that was the lynchpin to travel back so quickly. Either way, there is way more to the story, and I’m not giving her a pass until more is learned.
Next time you travel, think of all the surfaces your hands and face come in contact with while traveling – plus your shoes and bag (that is more convenient to sit on the floor than hold)? This is something like a 16 hr. flight, just navigating the isles to and from the restrooms, sitting in passenger boarding areas at the terminals, restrooms with warm humidity levels, gift shops, restaurants – the list is endless!
We’ve got HUNDREDS of TB-infected illegal alien working at the Columbia Farms chicken plant in Greenville, SC. The news story was squashed shortly after it was released. Health officials have done nothing and they care nothing about the thousands of innocent people that have come into contact with these people since their contagious illness was discovered.