Missouri Infants

One of the things I am privy to are press releases. Some of them are interesting, and some of them are not. Here is one on infants that is simply because one would think that this is something routinely done:

From St. Louis:

A federal advisory committee to the U.S. Department of Health and Human
Services is expected to release its recommendations tomorrow on uniform newborn
screenings for all states. Just six weeks ago, babies born in the state of
Missouri were tested for only five genetic disorders.

Since beginning a pilot program March 1 to expand its mandatory screening
program to detect an additional 20 potential genetic disorders in newborns, F.
Sessions Cole, M.D., St. Louis Children's Hospital newborn medicine director,
says Missouri is taking an important step forward in protecting the state's
children. The official expansion of the state's newborn screening program began
around July 1.

"Newborn screening is absolutely critical for the health of Missouri's
children," said Dr. Cole. "Screening for genetic and metabolic diseases in the
newborn period permits identification of children who can be treated with
nutritional or pharmaceutical interventions and prevent
serious, long-term problems with brain development and function of other organs.

Early identification also permits critical education for each affected infant's family about the disease, how it is inherited, what its symptoms are and the best ways of preventing complications.

The topic of screening newborns for genetic disorders has often been
acontroversial one. With the odds of these newborns actually having some of
these disorders being relatively small in some cases, some opponents feel this
is a waste of state and federal funds. But supporters, like Dr. Cole, strongly believe expanded screening will save many lives.

"But even while Missouri is expanding its program, state funding for genetic services is being cut," said Dr. Cole. "Additional funding is needed to continue treatment for infants who test positive for genetic disorders."

Kathy Grange, M.D., member of the Division of Genetics and Genomic
Medicine, serves on the newborn screening committee for the state of Missouri,
as well as the task force that is planning the use of tandem mass spectrometry,
which can simultaneously test for many genetic disorders.

"Missouri's expanded newborn screening program and the federal advisory
committee's recommendations are critical to newborns," said Dr. Grange.
"If the federal government mandates that all states screen for certain genetic
disorders, newborns and their families will have a better chance of detecting
and treating the disorders."