I am running 1.39h. My apologies - I modified that block of code prior to tackling the hideCategories search issue (if I look the files for one issue for too long, I get cross-eyed so I jump around from issue to issue). If anyone is interested, the modified code that I used is for hiding sold out items from the search (a lot of my stock are one-of-a-kinds so there isn't any use for them to be in the search after they're sold).
The unmodified code would be as you stated.
PHP Code:
// Notifier Point
$zco_notifier->notify('NOTIFY_SEARCH_FROM_STRING');
$where_str = " WHERE (p.products_status = 1
AND p.products_id = pd.products_id
AND pd.language_id = :languagesID
AND p.products_id = p2c.products_id
AND p2c.categories_id = c.categories_id ";