SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WTWO/WAWV)— September is Newborn Screening Awareness Month, and it’s also been 60 years since the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) implemented newborn health screenings.
Illinois began newborn health screenings in 1965, and they only tested for one single condition. The modern health screenings for newborns test for more than 50 conditions in hopes of early diagnosis and intervention when needed. More than 100,000 newborns are checked throughout the year.
“IDPH is proud to be a leader in supporting families with our newborn screening program,” said IDPH Director Dr. Sameer Vohra. “For the past 60 years in Illinois, newborn screens have detected potentially life-threatening conditions in healthy babies before they show symptoms. Each year, more than 500 babies in our state are diagnosed through this vital public health service. Early detection, diagnosis, and treatment of these conditions can prevent serious health outcomes, enabling Illinois’s children to reach their full potential.”
The first disorder that was tested for in 1965 was phenylketonuria (PKU). PKU is a genetic disorder that usually has no symptoms at birth but can lead to serious health and developmental problems if untreated. The screenings now test for conditions such as congenital heart disease; metabolic, genetic, and blood disorders; hearing loss; and more.
Testing is normally done by drawing blood within the first 24 to 48 hours of life, and a separate screening test is normally performed in the same time frame for hearing loss. Last year, nearly 123,000 newborns were screened across Illinois, and just over .2% of those tests resulted in medical intervention. Around 500 infants last year received early treatment for conditions that would have gone otherwise undetected without newborn screening.
For more information on Illinois’s screening efforts, you can click on this link.
