New Legislation: Hearing Screening for CMV

Congenital CMV infections infects 1 in 200 newborns.   Of these babies most cases of CMV are asymptomatic but in the cases that do have symptoms, hearing loss is the most common risk. 
   When babies exhibit hearing loss due to CMV infection the effects can hinder development and learning.  Some studies have shown that giving infants gancyclovir to treat CMV infections can limit or even reverse the hearing loss that they endure.   
   Now some states are trying to implement legislation to reduce the rates of CMV caused hearing loss in children.  Starting in 2013 Utah implemented a law that tasked all hospitals to test all babies for hearing loss as soon as they are born (many states have a similar new baby hearing test). The law then institutes a CMV test for all infants who fail their hearing test.  Iowa in 2017 passed a similar bill, making CMV tests an option for all babies that fail the hearing test. 
   In the first two years that the Utah law was passed it caught 6 children with CMV and tested 234 for the disease.  This catch of 6 children is being lauded in a study in Pediatrics magazine but some are wondering about the economic viability of the law since the catchment rate of finding a baby is just over 2% of those with hearing loss.

- Chris LeBoa
https://unews.utah.edu/hearing-loss/