Heel prick test to screen for cystic fibrosis in newborn babies

NEWBORN BABIES will be routinely screened for cystic fibrosis (CF) as part of the heel prick test which is used to identify a range of inherited conditions.

Cystic fibrosis became the sixth condition to be included in the National Newborn Bloodspot Screening Programme, which was first introduced in 1966.

A further test to confirm CF, which is commonly referred to as the “sweat test”, will be provided in six designated centres around the State to ensure the initial diagnosis was correct.

The inclusion of CF has been welcomed by the Cystic Fibrosis Association of Ireland, which has been pressing for it for the past 11 years.

Chief executive Philip Watt described the introduction as a “significant advancement” and an “important step” towards treatment of the disease.

He expected early diagnosis would mean that early intervention and medical treatment for CF would begin immediately after birth and lead to fewer hospital admissions in the future.

Ireland has the highest rate of CF in the world, with 1,300 patients and an average of three people a week being diagnosed with the chronic condition, but it is also one of the last countries in the EU to screen newborns for the illness.

Typically, boys in Ireland are not diagnosed with CF until they are three and girls until they are seven.

In the absence of early treatment, children with CF are subject to delayed growth and prolonged vitamin deficiency.

The HSE’s head of health protection, Dr Kevin Kelleher, welcomed the changes to the programme.

“Screening for cystic fibrosis, along with the existing five conditions, aids early detection and helps babies to begin treatment as soon as possible. While these conditions are all rare, it’s very important that parents have their baby screened,” he said.

The other five conditions babies are tested for are are phenylketonuria (PKU), maple syrup urine disease, homosystinuria, classical galactosaemia and congenital hypothyroidism (thyroid deficiency).