Federal CDC urges doctors to delay Hib booster shot

Federal CDC urges doctors
to delay Hib booster shot

ATLANTA — Federal health officials on Wednesday said doctors should temporarily stop giving children the final booster shot of the Hib vaccine because of expected shortages caused by a recall. Normally, the government recommends children get the three-shot vaccine at age 2 months, 4 months and then a booster at 12-15 months. But doctors should defer giving that last booster for the time being, said officials at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said.

Last week, 1.2 million doses of the Hib vaccine made by Merck & Co. was recalled because of contamination concerns at a Pennsylvania production plant. The vaccine protects against Haemophilus influenza type B, which can cause meningitis, pneumonia and other serious infections. The CDC sent a notice to doctors about the recommended deferral on Wednesday. The agency also recommended they keep track of the children who miss the booster and bring them back in for the shot when shortage concerns have ended.

Access to evidence

MOUNT LAUREL, N.J. — The federal jail holding five men accused of plotting an attack on Fort Dix has promised the men will get better access to evidence in their case as a judge considers letting them out on bail. A bail hearing is scheduled for today for the men charged with preparing to sneak onto the military base and shoot soldiers. They say officers at the jail are not giving them time to listen to recordings and view videos containing evidence for the trial. There are 200 hours of audio recordings, and this week, the federal government also provided some 500 hours of surveillance video.

Last month, the complaints about lack of access to the material so frustrated U.S. District Judge Robert Kugler that he agreed to have a bail hearing to consider releasing the suspects. That way, they would have unfettered access to the computers so they could review the materials. The move may have been mostly a way to pressure prison officials into letting the men review the recordings more often in detention. But Michael Riley, a defense lawyer for suspect Shain Duka, said it caused new problems.

Cause of death at Disney

ORLANDO, Fla. — A pre-existing heart condition caused the death of a man who was stricken while riding a Walt Disney World roller coaster, the Orange County medical examiner’s office said Wednesday. Jeffery Reeb, 44, of Navarre, Fla., was unresponsive when removed from the Expedition Everest ride at Disney’s Animal Kingdom on Tuesday. He was pronounced dead at Celebration Hospital.

Everest debuted in 2006, simulating a runaway train ride through the Himalayas. After Reeb’s death, the ride was reopened Tuesday afternoon after an inspection found it was operating properly. Before Reeb’s death, at least 15 people had died at Disney’s theme parks in Florida and California since 1989, some with previous health conditions.

Dad, 3 children rescued after 3 days lost in snow

PARADISE, Calif. — A father and three children who vanished on a Christmas tree-cutting trip in the Northern California mountains were found alive Wednesday after huddling in a culvert for warmth during three days of heavy snowstorms. “Our hearts are all full right now,” said Cory Stahl, who owns a pest control business where the father, Frederick Dominguez, works. “It’s a very merry Christmas now.”

A California Highway Patrol helicopter delivered the family to safety, the two youngest children brought out of the woods first. The father smiled at family and friends, who cheered as he and his 18-year-old son emerged from their helicopter. The two younger children, ages 14 and 12, emerged from a rescue helicopter after being flown out of the mountains Wednesday afternoon. They stepped out of the chopper and were immediately enveloped in a cluster of well-wishers carrying heavy blankets.

Stahl closed his business so he and his employees could assist the search. The four family members suffered mild to moderate hypothermia and were being taken to a hospital but were otherwise fine, he said. The four apparently survived by huddling in a culvert, CHP officer Joe Hagerty said.

Dems to focus on Iraq

WASHINGTON — Congressional Democrats are planning to take on a broader policy focus next year on the Iraq debate after failing repeatedly to pass anti-war spending legislation this year, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Wednesday. Though Democrats still will try to restrict war spending, they’ll explore alternative policy measures aimed at advancing troop withdrawals, drawing attention to larger regional issues, and improving the training and equipping of military units headed into combat. Examples include legislation that would require that the Bush administration submit a plan to end combat or demanding that troops be given enough rest in between combat tours. The goal, she said, would be to pass legislation that could muster the 60 votes needed to overcome procedural hurdles in the Senate.

Uninsured die sooner

ATLANTA — Uninsured cancer patients are nearly twice as likely to die within five years as those with private coverage, according to the first national study of its kind and one that sheds light on troubling health care obstacles. People without health insurance are less likely to get recommended cancer screening tests, the study also found, confirming earlier research. And when these patients finally do get diagnosed, their cancer is likely to have spread.

The research by scientists with the American Cancer Society offers important context for the national discussion about health care reform, experts say — even though the uninsured are believed to account for just a fraction of U.S. cancer deaths. An Associated Press analysis suggests it is around 4 percent. Those dealing with cancer and inadequate insurance weren’t surprised by the findings.

Iranian detainee released

BAGHDAD, Iraq — The U.S. military has released an Iranian detainee, U.S. and Iranian officials said Wednesday, as the two countries prepare for a new round of talks on security in Iraq. The Iranian embassy identified the man as Haydar Alawi, who was detained in the Kurdish northern city of Sulaymaniya in July 2004. The U.S. military gave a slightly different version of the name, Sayed Hadir Alawi Mohammed, but provided no other information about him. The detention of Iranian nationals by U.S. forces in Iraq has been an ongoing issue in relations between the three countries. U.S. officials accuse Iran’s elite Quds Force of supplying funding, direction, training and sophisticated weapons to Shiite Muslim extremists who have attacked U.S. forces in Iraq. Tehran denies the accusations and maintains that it is the lingering presence of U.S. forces in Iraq that has fueled the bloodshed.

Caught between two key allies, Iraqi officials have repeatedly urged the United States to release Iranian detainees as a confidence-building measure. U.S. forcees freed nine Iranians on Nov. 9, including two of the five men detained in January in a U.S. raid in the Kurdish city of Irbil.

Combined dispatches