Incredible findings at the University of Alabama in Birmingham has done research to help detect cytomegalovirus (CMV), a common virus that newborns contract but are not regularly tested for. The baby can suffer permanent hearing loss for the rest of their lives. Federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says that 1 in 150 babies are born infected. CMV is known to probably cause about 20 to 40 percent of loss of hearing in their early childhood. A shocking statistic about CMV is that about 2000 to 4000 children are hit by this each year.
The current testing method includes taking sample of the baby's urine or saliva. The labs let the cells in the sample grow in the dish which is complex and time consuming. Researchers have found a much simpler way of detecting the virus by using dried samples of saliva which a lot more user-friendly. In this case, they tested 35,000 babies and it was a 97 percent successful at identifying which babies have the virus and the great part of the test is that it only costs 3 dollars. The research Suresh Bopanna , a professor of pediatrics at UAB hopes to see this test to become widely accepted and used universally .
http://www.gpb.org/news/2011/06/01/simple-test-for-babies-could-help-spot-a-virus-that-damages-hearing
No comments:
Post a Comment