Universal Newborn Cystic Fibrosis Screening

Ivanhoe Newswire
Friday, April 6, 2007; 12:00 AM

(Ivanhoe Newswire) -- Governments looking for a good reason to screen all newborns for cystic fibrosis will find the answer in their pocketbooks.

According to British researchers who compared health care costs for 184 children diagnosed with the hereditary disease through infant screening and 950 diagnosed only after they came down with symptoms, kids diagnosed through screening are significantly less costly for the health care system.

Overall, children identified as infants needed less invasive therapies and spent fewer days in the hospital. Children identified after developing symptoms ended up costing between 60 percent and 400 percent more to treat than those diagnosed soon after birth.

The authors write, Newborn screening is associated with lower estimated treatment costs and reduced hospital admissions for invasive therapy, which suggests that indirect costs and disruption to family life will also be less. Furthermore, the potential cost savings to the yearly treatment budget could offset some, if not all, of the costs of a newborn screening service.

Cystic fibrosis affects the respiratory and digestive systems and often cuts life short for its victims. However, treatments are available to hold many of the symptoms of the disease at bay, and the earlier children are diagnosed, the better able doctors are to initiate these life-prolonging therapies.

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SOURCE: The Lancet, published online April 5, 2007