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SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- The Utah Department of Health wants to add cystic fibrosis to the list of diseases checked at birth.
The department is asking the Legislature to raise the cost of newborn-screening kits by $8 to $75. Hospitals take blood samples from newborns and send them to the state to look for evidence of three dozen diseases.
"I've been exposed to what newborn screening can do for a child," said Barbara Chatfield, director of the Cystic Fibrosis Center at the University of Utah, "so it has been kind of remarkable and dramatic (in places) where they don't screen."
Cystic fibrosis is an inherited chronic disease that affects the lungs and digestive system of about 30,000 children and adults in the United States, according to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.
A defective gene contributes to a thick, sticky mucus that clogs the lungs and leads to life-threatening lung infections.
If cystic fibrosis screening is added, Chatfield predicts that 30 babies likely will test positive each year in Utah, and about half will have confirmed cases.
"The battle with cystic fibrosis is all about prevention," said David Parkinson, who has two children with the disease.
"If you don't diagnose them early, you lose valuable time. Some infections colonize in the lungs and cause permanent damage," he said.
One child was diagnosed while an infant because of a health problem. The other child was nearly 3 when diagnosed.
Some Utah pediatricians have assumed cystic fibrosis is already included in newborn testing, leading them to explore other causes when a child has symptoms of the disease, Parkinson said.
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Information from: The Salt Lake Tribune
(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
