In brief: Meningitis vaccines reduced
The number of required inoculations to protect young children from bacterial meningitis in Washington state has been reduced because a recall has left supplies of the vaccine tight nationwide.
The state Health Board voted 9-0 in a special meeting Thursday to cut the number of required doses of haemophilus influenzae serotype b vaccine, known as Hib vaccine, from four to three, following recommendations of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the American Academy of Pediatrics.
Dr. Diana T. Yu, Thurston County public health officer and a member of the state panel, said the remaining shots would provide 95 percent immunity from the disease, which mainly afflicts children younger than 5.
The series begins in children as young as 2 months and consists of two or three shots, depending on the manufacturer, followed by a booster shot at 12 to 15 months, and is required for enrollment in preschool or day care. The board’s action eliminated the booster requirement.
Meningitis, an infection of the brain and spinal cord coverings, can lead to deafness, brain damage and sometimes death. The childhood version once affected as many as 20,000 children younger than 5, but the incidence plummeted after the vaccine was developed in the mid-1990s.
– Associated Press
WALLA WALLA
Police say man stabbed brother
Police say a man stabbed his brother to death in a fight at a home in Walla Walla.
Police arrested 27-year-old Johnny Angel Leal for investigation of second-degree murder in the early Thursday stabbing of 28-year-old Pedro J. Ramirez. Sgt. Matt Wood said despite different last names they are brothers.
Leal told police that an argument escalated into a physical fight and he grabbed a knife when Ramirez kept punching him in the face.
– Associated Press
Spokane
Pizza Rita robber strikes manager
Spokane police were searching Saturday for a man who robbed a pizza restaurant in the middle of the night, striking the manager on the head.
The robber took a bank deposit bag from Pizza Rita, 5511 N. Wall St., and fled about 3:15 a.m.
The manager, who was not seriously injured, and a witness described the robber as white, an inch or two more than 6 feet tall, thin and wearing a black coat.
Police asked anyone with information about the crime to call (509) 242-TIPS or 911.
– John Craig