Yet Another Health Emergency: Drug Resistant Tuberculosis sufferer Goes AWOL in California

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Augustin Zeferino, a 24 year old suffering from drug resistant TB has decided to stop treatment, putting everyone who comes into contact with him at risk from the deadly disease.

Santa Barbara County Public Health officials have admitted he hasn’t turned up for treatment for at least the past two weeks. The threat is serious enough for a warrant for his arrest to have been issued.

Drug resistant TB is treatable, and curable, but the treatment can take up to two years. Recently Eduardo Rosas Cruz was arrested in Fresno for refusing treatment for the same disease.

The only power Health Officials have is to use the courts to try and isolate the patient from the public. Up to this point they have not been able to locate the missing 24 year old man. They are doing everything they can to find him and ensure the health and safety of the public. This disease is very serious and Public Health official hope to find him before anyone else has a chance to get infected. 

Spread by droplets, that is from coughing and sneezing, it’s vital that this man is found as quickly as possible. With ‘flu season’ just around the corner drug resistant TB could become a huge problem in a very short space of time. Untreated the disease can be fatal, particularly to those with a weakened immune system. Lung scarring and respiratory problems often plague TB sufferers long after recovery from the disease.

(source)