On World TB Day, still plenty of work left despite local successes

March 24, 2016.Reading time 5 minutes.

An X-ray of the chest of a man with tuberculosis. The areas infected with TB bacteria are colored red. Science Photo Library/Corbis

We saw an increase in TB in the United States for the first time in 23 years. In King County, TB isn’t increasing, but our proportion of TB-infected individuals (those who carry a dormant form of TB (“latently-infected”) is higher than Washington’s or any other region in the state.

Taking a public health approach to King County’s opiate epidemic

March 2, 2016.Reading time 5 minutes.

In light of the devastating opioid epidemic, Dr. Jeff Duchin explains the importance of helping people who are already addicted and preventing people from becoming addicted in the first place.

26 years later, KCMEO identifies unknown homicide victim

February 25, 2016.Reading time 6 minutes.

After 26 years of investigation, the King County Medical Examiner’s Office (KCMEO) identified the remains of an unknown homicide victim, who died from a shotgun wound to the torso.