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Kids with asthma should get flu shots

By TIMES WIRES
Published March 9, 2007

ATLANTA

Children with asthma should get flu shots to protect them, but only 3 in 10 do, U.S. health officials said Thursday. "We were surprised at how low the number was," said Susan Brim of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, lead author of a study that looked at data from 2005. The study represents the first national estimates for such children. Children with asthma, a chronic lung problem marked by wheezing, coughing and labored breathing, can die from flu complications, such as pneumonia and acute respiratory disease. They are at higher risk for those problems. Inactivated flu vaccine is recommended for asthmatic children older than six months.

BOSTON

Authorities delay detainee flights

Gov. Deval Patrick urged federal authorities Thursday not to move any more factory workers detained in an immigration raid out of state until their children are found and arrangements are made for their care. More than 300 people were detained for possible deportation in a raid Tuesday at a leather factory that makes equipment for the U.S. military. About 150 have been flown from the plant at the former Fort Devens military base to a detention center in Texas, the governor said. Federal authorities postponed a third flight after Patrick called Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff.

WASHINGTON

Lawsuit forces D.C. to improve care

Washington, D.C., must show improvement in its emergency response system within one year or face a lawsuit under the terms of a legal settlement with the family of a slain New York Times journalist whose case was poorly handled by police and ambulance workers, city officials said Thursday. As part of the agreement, the city will not pay any money to the family of David Rosenbaum, which has agreed to withdraw a $20-million lawsuit. Instead, the city will form a task force to reform its emergency services department and a Rosenbaum family member will sit on the panel. Rosenbaum, 63, died Jan. 8, 2006, two days after he was struck in the head with a pipe and mugged.

COLUMBIA, S.C.

Time off sentence for a kidney?

Inmates in South Carolina could soon find that a kidney is worth 180 days. Lawmakers are considering legislation that would let prisoners donate organs or bone marrow in exchange for time off their sentences. A state Senate panel on Thursday endorsed creating an organ-and-tissue donation program for inmates. But legislators postponed debate on a measure to reduce the sentences of participating prisoners, citing concern that federal law may not allow it. Federal law makes it illegal to give organ donors "valuable consideration."

Elsewhere

Washington: Valerie Plame, the CIA operative exposed after her husband criticized President Bush's march to war, will testify next week before lawmakers probing how the White House dealt with her identity.

Dover, Del.: A man accused of raping and killing a University of Delaware student was found guilty Thursday and could face the death penalty. James E. Cooke, 36, broke into Lindsey M. Bonistall's apartment in May 2005.

Washington: Federal prosecutors said council member Marion Barry failed to file his tax returns on time for a seventh year in a row, and they asked a judge to send the former mayor to jail.

[Last modified March 9, 2007, 02:27:58]