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Newborn screening tests.(preventive medicine)
- Article from:
- Clinical Reference Systems
- Article date:
- May 24, 2006
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2006 McKesson Health Solutions LLC. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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What are newborn screening tests?
Newborn screening tests are tests to check for treatable diseases that can appear early in life. These tests can detect certain diseases before they cause serious damage. Newborns can then be given preventive treatment. The tests are provided by state departments of health. The diseases tested for vary somewhat from state to state.
While newborn screening tests are likely to find newborns with the diseases, like all tests, they are not perfect. Sometimes they incorrectly report a disease a child does not actually have. Therefore, all children who test positively for a disease should be tested again. Rarely, the tests do ...