Concerned about news reports linking the hearing loss of the new Miss America to a childhood vaccination, the American Academy of Pediatrics said the actual culprit was a bacterial infection.
The Academy said in a statement on Thursday that it had learned from her pediatrician, Dr. Ted Williams of Dothan, AL, that the nerve damage to Heather Whitestone's ears was caused by a Hemophilus influenzae, or H-influenzae infection.