Health Highlights: Feb. 10, 2005

Here are some of the latest health and medical news developments, compiled by editors of HealthDay:

Many Young Children and At-Risk Adults Getting Flu Shots: CDC

A new report says 57.3 percent of U.S. children six months to 23 months old received the influenza vaccine from September to December 2004, the first year that the flu vaccine was added to the childhood vaccination schedule.

The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report, released Thursday, noted that only 7.7 percent of the children in that age group received the flu vaccine in 2002.

"It is wonderful news that so many children are being vaccinated against a potentially life-threatening illness like influenza. We must continue to urge parents to vaccinate their children and urge those at high risk for serious complications from influenza to step up and get vaccinated because the shot can save lives," Dr. Julie Gerberding, CDC director, said in a prepared statement.

The report also noted that the flu vaccination rate for adults in priority groups -- the elderly, health workers, and people with chronic health conditions -- was 43.1 percent compared with 8.3 percent for non-priority adults.

The CDC estimates that about 3.5 million does of flu vaccine are still available for use through the end of flu season. The report noted that it''s not too late to get a flu shot. February is often the most severe month of the flu season and the virus can continue to circulate for several more weeks.

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Panel Urges Meningitis Vaccine for Children

A federal panel recommended Thursday that children be given a vaccine to prevent meningococcal meningitis -- the kind that often spreads on college campuses, the Associated Press reported.

The decision means the U.S. government will likely pay millions of dollars to offer the vaccine -- called Menactra and manufactured by Sanofi Pasteur -- to at least 4 million children eligible under the federal children''s vaccines program.

The panel urged that all children 11 and 12 years old get the vaccine; any child between the ages of 11 to 18 covered by the federal program should get the shot if he or she asks for it, the AP said.

Each dose has an anticipated cost of about $100. Because only 3,000 cases of meningococcal meningitis are reported each year, panel members had to consider the cost-effectiveness of their decision, the AP said.

"It won''t save money; it is a strategy that will save lives," said Mark Messonier, an economist with the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention who helped develop a cost-effectiveness study of the drug.

The recommendation is a reversal of previous policy that weighed the relatively low threat of meningitis against the cost of the shot. The new vaccine is longer-lasting than the previous product, the AP said.

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Pope Leaves Hospital and Returns to the Vatican

Pope John Paul II returned to the Vatican Thursday after being discharged from the Rome hospital where the 84-year-old pontiff has been since Feb. 2, receiving treatment for throat spasms brought on by flu.

"The laryngo-tracheitis which required the urgent hospitalization of the Holy Father has been cured," Vatican spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls said in a statement. "The improvement in his overall condition is progressing well. In the last two days, all the diagnostic checks, including a CAT scan, have allowed us to exclude other illnesses."

The Vatican said the Pope has recovered his voice and is currently considering whether he''ll make his usual appearance at his office window on Sunday, BBC News reported.

Last Sunday, the Pope appeared at his hospital window. He seemed frail but alert.

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Scientists Identify Antibody that Triggers Narcolepsy

An antibody that triggers the disabling sleep disorder narcolepsy has been identified by Australian scientists. This discovery could help in the development of a test and treatment for narcolepsy, which causes people to suddenly fall asleep at any time and place.

The researchers analyzed antibodies produced by the immune systems of people with narcolepsy. They pinpointed an autoantibody in narcoleptics that enhances the activity of the nervous system outside of the brain. An autoantibody is an antibody that acts against a person''s own tissue, the researchers said.

"This finding provides the first direct evidence that auto-immunity plays a role in this fascinating sleep disorder," researcher Tom Gordon of the Flinders Medical Center in Adelaide, told Agence France-Presse.

Gordon and his colleagues plan to investigate where and how the autoantibody acts in people with narcolepsy.

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Massachusetts Governor Opposes Embryonic Stem Cell Research

Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney says he''s opposed to study on embryonic stem cells that''s being proposed by Harvard University and other research institutions in the commonwealth, The New York Times reported Thursday.

The report came a day after a bill was introduced in the Massachusetts legislature that would promote this type of research by removing ambiguities in existing law that now discourage such study.

Stem cells are master cells that scientists can coax into forming many tissues and structures within the body, such as organ tissue and bone. Experts say these cells may ultimately be used to cure diseases like Alzheimer''s and Parkinson''s. However, research using human embryonic stem cells is controversial, since the embryos must be destroyed in the process of harvesting the cells.

Romney''s wife suffers from multiple sclerosis, a disease that could be helped by this research. Nonetheless, he surprised many backers of stem cell research by announcing his opposition to the practice on moral grounds, the Times reported.

Romney, a Republican, told the newspaper he planned to seek his own legislation outlawing such research and establishing criminal penalties for those who engage in the practice. The revelation appeared to set up a showdown with the Democratic president of the Massachusetts senate, Robert Travaglini, who authored the bill introduced Wednesday.