« Phone and Internet scam hits Interior | Main | Life saver for Mersey deaf as 999 texting service launched »
October 1, 2005
Infant hearing screening
A Pittsburgh boy has become the 100th patient at Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh to receive a cochlear implant, a tiny device implanted in the skull that will allow him to hear.
Doctors say more early screening and an awareness of childhood hearing loss have made a difference in detecting problems and changing some children's lives. But Doctor David Chi, the director of the hospital's Hearing Center, said the only way the services can be offered is if babies are screened early for hearing loss.
About 12 thousand babies are born with permanent hearing loss each year in the United States. And three out of every one-thousand babies born have some form of hearing loss, making it the most frequently occurring birth defect.
Thirty-eight states have laws mandating that newborns be screened for hearing loss. Pennsylvania's law, which took effect in 2003, sets a target having 85 percent of babies born in the state screened.
From WNEP.com
Posted by 4HL on October 1, 2005 3:45 PM
Send this article to a friend