Newborn Screening Program seeks to decrease the morbidity and mortality of infants born in Texas through customer-oriented, high quality newborn screening follow-up, case management and outreach education.
National benchmarks call for hearing screening no later than one month of age, diagnosis no later than three months of age for infants not passing the screening, and enrollment in intervention no later than six months of age for children identified as D/HH. This is known as the 1-3-6 Plan. When left undetected, hearing loss can negatively impact children through delays in speech, language, social, and emotional development. The Newborn Screening program began screening for X-ALD on August 5, 2019
The Texas Department of State Health Services Newborn Screening Program consists of testing, follow-up and clinical care coordination. All babies born in Texas are required to get a newborn screening blood test soon after birth for certain disorders. Babies also receive hearing and critical congenital heart disease screenings before they leave the birthing facility. An abnormal laboratory result triggers follow-up and case management to ensure that the baby receives confirmatory testing and treatment, if needed. Early treatment can prevent serious complications such as growth problems, developmental delays, deafness or blindness, intellectual disability, seizures or even early death.