SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WAND) - September is Newborn Screening Awareness Month, and the Illinois Department of Public Health is marking 60 years of screening efforts in the state.
Newborn screening in Illinois started in 1965 with testing for a single condition. Now, the program checks for more than 50 conditions. The goal is to be able to provide early diagnosis and intervention when needed.
More than 100,000 newborns are tested in Illinois ever year.
“IDPH is proud to be a leader in supporting families with our newborn screening program,” said IDPH Director Dr. Sameer Vohra. “For the past 60 years in Illinois, newborn screens have detected potentially life-threating conditions in healthy babies before they show symptoms. Each year, more than 500 babies in our state are diagnosed through this vital public health service. Early detection, diagnosis, and treatment of these conditions can prevent serious health outcomes, enabling Illinois’s children to reach their full potential.”
Testing via blood draw is usually done within the first 24 to 48 hours of life. A separate screening test is used within the same time frame to check for hearing loss.
In 2024, nearly 123,000 newborn babies were screened for these conditions in Illinois. For conditions detected through lab testing, just over 0.2 percent resulted in a diagnosis requiring medical intervention.
Tests for hearing loss resulted in a diagnosis requiring treatment for just over 0.2 percent of those tested. In total, around 500 infants last year received early treatment for conditions that would have otherwise gone undetected without newborn screening.
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