Early baby survival rate 'static'

By Clare Murphy Health reporter, BBC News Premature babies are undergoing more intense treatment to keep them alive Babies born before 24 weeks are spending longer periods in intensive care but their overall survival rates have not improved, a study has found. Newcastle doctors say while more babies over 24 weeks do now live, the longer-term rates for infants just a week younger are static. About 20% of such babies survive, but those who do usually have disabilities. The study, published in Archives of Disease in Childhood, looked at 230 babies born at 22 and 23 weeks. What we really need to start looking at is weight, sex, whether it is singleton pregnancy and whether steroids have been given John Wyatt, Professor of Ethics & Perinatology, University College London Over the course of 15 years, the length and intensity of treatment appeared to increase: the average survival time of those babies who ultimately died rose from 11 hours in 1993 to nearly four days by 2007. But despite more active intervention being documented in the last five years of the study, in which 60% of the babies born were actively resuscitated, the longer-term survival rates did not appear to increase. Open discussion The findings are in keeping with those of the major Epicure study, which showed that while survival rates for babies born at 24 and 25 weeks have improved over the last ten years those for younger infants have not, as their organs are simply not sufficiently developed. If we can give parents an individualised chance of survival, we really would be getting somewhere Professor John Wyatt University College London Guidelines have been drawn up which recommend no resuscitation be carried out at 22 weeks, and only at the parents' request at 23 weeks following a full discussion about the possible outcomes. "We know anecdotally that more parents are asking for resuscitation and more doctors are offering it. We are not making a value judgement about this, and for many this may be the right thing to do - even if it only brings an extra three days of life," says Dr Nicholas Embleton, a neonatologist at Newcastle's Royal Victoria Infirmary, who led the research. "Cost should not be an issue when making these decisions, but we do need to think about what these babies may go through, the increasing interventions, in the hope that they may survive." Bliss chief executive Andy Cole said: "This is an interesting piece of research and its findings echo those of the national Epicure study. "The number of babies born at 22 or 23 weeks gestation accounts for an extremely small percentage of all births. However it is always important that these babies' treatment and care options are considered on an individual basis." Weeks fixation Discussion about the survival rates of the most premature babies also takes place against the backdrop of the debate about abortion. There have been attempts to reduce the current 24 week limit for terminations to 22 weeks on the grounds of viability. "It is really because of the abortion debate that we have got so fixated by weeks when it comes to premature babies, and the shame about this study is that it didn't move beyond that," says John Wyatt, professor of Ethics & Perinatology at University College London. "What we really need to start looking at is weight, sex, whether it is singleton pregnancy and whether steroids have been given. A girl is much more likely to survive than a boy, for instance, and the heavier the better. "If we can give parents an individualised chance of survival, we really would be getting somewhere."

 

Oil rig blaze off Louisiana leaves at least 11 missing

Advertisement This injured crew member was winched to safety aboard a helicopter US Coast Guard is searching the Gulf of Mexico for at least 11 oil workers missing after an explosion and fire on an off-shore drilling platform. The Deepwater Horizon rig was still burning hours after the blast on Tuesday night, 84km (52 miles) south-east of the Louisiana port of Venice. Seventeen of the 176 workers were evacuated by air and sea on Wednesday. Another 98 were later rescued by boat. The rig is reportedly tilting about 70 degrees and threatening to topple over. We're hoping everyone's in a life raft Mike O'Berry, US Coast Guard Its operators, Transocean, said there had been no signs of trouble before the explosion and crews had been doing routine work. A spokesman for the Switzerland-based contractor, Greg Panagos, said the rig had been drilling at the time but was not in production. The cause of the blast is still unclear. "Our focus right now is on taking care of the people," Mr Panagos added. 'Burning pretty good' A day after the explosion on the Deepwater Horizon, Coast Guard spokesman Mike O'Berry said four helicopters, four Coast Guard boats and a plane were helping search for the missing workers. "We're hoping everyone's in a life raft," he added. DEEPWATER HORIZON Designated a semi-submersible drilling unit Built in 2001 by South Korea's Hyundai Heavy Industries Shipyard Size: 396ft (120m) long by 256ft (78m) wide Designed to operate in water depths of up to 8,000ft The Coast Guard said 17 workers had been evacuated by air and sea on Wednesday morning, three of whom were critically injured. The other workers were later picked up by boat and are expected ashore later on Wednesday. Fire boats were still battling the fire on the rig. Deepwater Horizon was drilling for BP on part of the Mississippi Canyon Block 252 known as the Macondo prospect, in 1,500m (5,000ft) of water. Built in 2001 by South Korea's Hyundai, the semi-submersible rig is 120m (396ft) long and 78m (256ft) wide, according to Transocean. A semi-submersible rig floats above a drilling site and does not touch the sea floor. Able to operate in up to 2,400m (8,000ft) of water, Deepwater Horizon set a world record in September for the deepest oil and gas well when it drilled down 10,685m (35,055ft) at another BP site in the Gulf of Mexico. "It's one of the more advanced rigs out there," Mr Panagos said.

 

Controversial cardinal replaced for Washington Mass

Cardinal Dario Castrillon Hoyos was Prefect of the Congregation for Clergy A Colombian cardinal has been dropped as the main celebrant of a special Mass this week in Washington, following protests by Church abuse victims. Cardinal Dario Castrillon Hoyos was to preside over a Latin Mass at the National Basilica marking the fifth anniversary of the Pope's inauguration. Abuse victims had complained that the cardinal praised a French bishop for not denouncing a paedophile priest. Pope Benedict earlier publicly promised action to deal with the abuse scandal. Speaking during an audience in St Peter's Square in Rome, he recalled how he had shared the suffering of victims during a visit to Malta. But the Pope did not go into details about what action he planned. Saturday's Mass at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception has been three years in the planning. A series of allegations of abuse by priests has put pressure on the Church The Paulus Institute, the organisers of the event, said it had consulted with Cardinal Castrillon Hoyos and agreed to find another celebrant to "help maintain the solemnity, reverence and beauty of the Mass". The decision to cancel the cardinal's participation came after a number of local priests said they would not attend the service. On Tuesday, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests called on Washington Archbishop Donald Wuerl to stop the cardinal from celebrating the Mass, saying it would send the wrong message. Last week, the Vatican confirmed Cardinal Castrillon Hoyos had written in 2001 to congratulate the bishop of Bayeux-Lisieux, Pierre Pican, for shielding a priest who was jailed the previous year for paedophilia. The cardinal was at the time Prefect of the Vatican's Congregation for the Clergy, which is in charge of priests throughout the world.

Flights resume as ash fear recedes

Flights resume as ash fear recedes

Advertisement Geologist Pall Einarssonn: "The eruption has been declining" Air traffic in Europe should be back to "almost 100%" on Thursday, after six days of unprecedented travel chaos, the air traffic agency Eurocontrol says. Airlines resumed services across Europe on Wednesday, with most scheduled flights going ahead. But tens of thousands remain stranded around the world after ash from an Icelandic volcano caused the shutdown. The airline industry says it has lost $1.7bn (£1.1bn) and has called for compensation from European governments. The head of the International Air Transport Association (Iata), Giovanni Bisignani, said the impact of the shutdown had been "devastating" and governments "must take their responsibility" and help carriers. Eurocontrol said it expected about 22,500 flights to have taken place on Wednesday, out of a normal weekday total of 28,000. "It is anticipated that almost 100% of air traffic will take place in Europe" on Thursday, the agency added. At London's Heathrow airport, Europe's busiest, traffic ran at 90% normal service on Wednesday. Many night flights are being allowed temporarily to help clear the backlog of stranded passengers. Camping at New York's JFK airport Transatlantic services have returned to their normal level, with 338 flights arriving in Europe on Wednesday, Eurocontrol also said. German airline Lufthansa said it would fly at full capacity by operating about 1,800 flights on Thursday, up from about 700 on Wednesday. Air France says its long-haul flights are now departing as normal, although services in parts of northern Europe remained suspended. Denmark, Norway and Sweden - among the countries previously worst affected by the ash cloud - have now lifted the last of their bans. Some airspace restrictions remain over Finland and some remote Scottish isles. 'Too cautious' The flight bans were imposed by most European countries because in the high temperatures of an engine turbine, ash can turn to molten glass and cripple the engine. More than 95,000 flights were cancelled in the six days to Wednesday. Airlines conducted test flights during the weekend and called for the restrictions to be lifted, saying there had been no damage to planes. The curbs were eased after EU transport ministers met by teleconference on Monday, and tests showed ash density was low enough to fly. UK Transport Minister Lord Adonis has admitted that international safety regulators had been too cautious in their handling of the crisis. He also said UK airports had operated at about 60-70% of normal capacity, while tour companies were planning to get more than 200,000 holidaymakers back in the country by the weekend. In Iceland, the civil protection agency said on Wednesday that the volcano had lost nearly 80% of its intensity, although the situation remained changeable. Are you due to fly today? Have you made it to your destination? Or are you still stranded? Send us your comments.

Sudan opposition claims video shows election fraud

 

Advertisement Video posted on YouTube claiming to show polling officers stuffing ballot boxes with fraudulent voting slips Sudanese opposition activists have said a video which apparently shows election officials stuffing ballot boxes proves their claims of poll rigging. The clip, which has not been independently verified, has been posted on the internet and is being circulated by a coalition of campaign groups. The National Elections Commission (NEC), however, dismissed it as a fake and is not even investigating it. The elections were held under a deal to end a 21-year north-south civil war. The presidential, parliamentary and regional polls were the first multi-party elections since 1986. We will not investigate anything that appears on the internet al-Hadi Mohamed Ahmed National Elections Commission Results are expected this week, after the elections were extended by two days due to organisational problems. Several opposition parties withdrew in the north, saying President Omar al-Bashir's National Congress Party was trying to rig the voting. On Tuesday, the US said the elections were plagued by "serious irregularities" and more should have been done to prevent them. An election monitoring group earlier told the BBC it suspected that one of its observers had been kidnapped and beaten in the semi-autonomous south. 'No complaint' The video, which was posted on the video sharing website YouTube and which is impossible to verify independently, was apparently filmed in the eastern Red Sea state. It's forgery, of course, done by the ruling party. They changed the boxes with already filled boxes. They brought them by cars from outside Abdallah Deng Nhial Popular Congress Party It shows people wearing the distinctive orange bibs of election officials and traditional white gowns seemingly stuffing ballot boxes. It has been circulated by the Sudan Democracy First Group - a coalition of trade unions and activists. "This video is proving everything we said that the elections are rigged and they rigged the boxes," opposition Communist Party official Siddig Youssef told the Reuters news agency. The presidential candidate of the opposition Popular Congress Party (PCP), Abdallah Deng Nhial, described the video as "scandalous". "It's forgery, of course, done by the ruling party. They changed the boxes with already filled boxes. They brought them by cars from outside." However, National Elections Commission member al-Hadi Mohamed Ahmed told reporters that no complaint had been received. "We will not investigate anything that appears on the internet." A senior advisor to President Bashir, Ghazi Saleheddine, also cast doubt on the video. "It could be made up, I have seen people wearing orange tunics which could be anywhere and boxes can be also found so it's just a video, they only have their word for it," he said. At the weekend, the EU and the Carter Center, led by former US President Jimmy Carter, said the polls had fallen short of international standards. However, both concluded the 11-15 April vote was a significant step towards democracy. President Bashir is expected to be re-elected, after his two main challengers withdrew, alleging fraud. The former rebel Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM) is equally expected to retain power in the south. The complicated ballot in Africa's largest country was beset by problems and heavily criticised by the Sudanese opposition and local observers. Observers said the ruling parties in both the south and the north also used their huge advantage in resources to influence the vote. The EU's team was withdrawn from Darfur, where low-level civil war continues, because of fears about safety and whether the monitors could observe freely.