In brief: Jet on Navy exercise crashes, kills pilot

PORT HUENEME, Calif. – A jet on a military training exercise crashed into an agricultural field near a Southern California Navy base Wednesday, killing the pilot, authorities said.

The plane disintegrated when it hit the ground about 5:15 p.m. as it was preparing to land at Naval Station Ventura County.

The pilot was pronounced dead at the scene, said Ventura County fire Capt. Mike Lindbery.

The plane, a civilian fighter jet contracted by the Navy, had just finished playing the role of an enemy aircraft in an offshore training exercise.

FDA approves meningitis vaccine

WASHINGTON – Federal health regulators have approved the first vaccine to block a strain of bacteria that has caused sometimes deadly outbreaks of meningitis in college dormitories.

The Food and Drug Administration said Wednesday it cleared Pfizer’s Trumenba to prevent a subtype of Meningococcal disease in people ages 10 to 25. When the bacteria infect the bloodstream they cause sepsis. Infection of the lining surrounding the brain and spinal cord is known as meningitis. Symptoms include fever, headache and stiff neck, sometimes followed by nausea and vomiting.

The disease spreads through saliva and other throat fluids via coughing, kissing and sharing utensils. College students living in communal housing are at a slightly higher risk of contracting sepsis and meningitis.

Of the 500 cases of meningococcal disease reported in the U.S. in 2012, 160 were caused by the subtype B strain that Trumenba targets. Sanofi and other drugmakers already market vaccines that protect against the other four strains.

The disease can be treated with antibiotics, but vaccination is the most effective way to prevent its spread.