Newborn Screening
Newborn screening can save a baby’s life!
Only five drops of a baby’s blood are needed to identify babies at risk for many serious medical conditions. If left untreated, these conditions can lead to slow growth, developmental disabilities, and possible death. Identifying these conditions early and providing appropriate treatment may prevent serious complications.
The Ohio Newborn screening Program also provides funding to pediatric specialty clinics that diagnose and treat babies affected by these conditions. Metabolic formula for treating conditions such as phenylketonuria (PKU) and homocystinuria are available through the Ohio Department of Health (ODH) Metabolic Formula Program.
Ohio newborns are also screened for congenital hearing loss and critical congenital heart disease. For more information about screening for these conditions click the links below.
Critical Congenital Heart Disease
Ohio Department of Health (ODH) and The Ohio State University (OSU) Student Partnership:
A partnership between ODH and OSU was formed to create a service-learning activity for biochemistry undergraduate students. The collaboration offered an opportunity for the students to connect theory and real-world application as they developed public scientific presentations related to newborn screening diseases.
Teams of undergraduate students majoring in Biochemistry at OSU were tasked with producing a presentation that describes in lay terms some of the human disorders that are now part of the Newborn Screening program conducted by ODH. For the disease selected by each team, they were expected to cover: (i) History; (ii) Occurrence, provenance, and genetics; (iii) Biochemical feature(s); (iv) Symptom(s); (v) Diagnosis; (vi) Prognosis; and (vii) Therapy. Each team comprised of nine students enrolled in Biochemistry 5614 (Autumn 2018-2022) and had one lead person for text and one lead person for illustrations. All team members contributed to the overall presentation now being shared as part of the Ohio Newborn Screening Program. Dr. Venkat Gopalan (Course Instructor, Biochemistry 5614) led and provided oversight for the entire project. Dr. Karl Roth (Visiting Scholar, Dept. of Chemistry & Biochemistry) and members of the ODH Laboratory Newborn Screening Program have evaluated these presentations for clinical content and scope. Find the presentations on OSU's knowledge bank.
For more information about Newborn Screening Program for Genetic, Endocrine, and Metabolic Conditions contact the Public Health Laboratory.