Screening lowers risk of infant jaundice
Jaundice screening in newborns helps decrease number of severe incidences, researchers say
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Monday, 28, Sep 2009 07:49
By inthenews.co.uk staff.
Screening of all newborns can help to decrease the number of incidences of severe jaundice, researchers at a children's hospital have said.
Researchers at the UCSF Children's hospital and Kaiser Permanente's Division of Research in Oakland, California, found screening babies for excessive bilirubin in the blood can "significantly decrease the incidence of severe jaundice".
In severe cases, jaundice can lead to seizures and brain damage. The study, published in Pediatrics and out today, is one of the first of its kind to examine the effectiveness of universal screening.
The researchers explain most newborns have a rise in bilirubin in the days following birth. However, very high blood levels can be toxic to the nervous system. Monitoring these levels in babies with jaundice is important so that treatment can be started before levels become excessive.
They add that high bilirubin levels can be treated with light therapy, which converts the bilirubin into a form that the body can remove.
Lead author of the study, Michael Kuzniewicz, a neonatologist at UCSF Children's hospital, said: "While we know that early identification of bilirubin levels before reaching toxic levels is important, bilirubin screening has not been universal, as physicians have decided which infants to screen based upon their degree of jaundice and clinical risk factors.
"This study provides evidence that universal screening during the birth hospitalization is a more effective method for monitoring bilirubin levels in order to prevent them from rising to a point that can damage an infant's brain."
With universal screening, researchers noted a 62 per cent decrease in the number of newborns with very high bilirubin levels.