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Beginning Monday, Oct. 2, all babies will be screened for Congenital Cytomegalovirus, making the Empire State the second in the nation to screen for the virus, according to the New York Health Department.
Minnesota began such screenings in February 2023.
Cytomegalovirus (CMV) is the most common viral infection in newborns and most people infected show no symptoms.
However, about 10 percent of infants born with the virus will have health problems at birth, including rash, jaundice, low birth weight, seizures, and damaged retinas.
Of those showing symptoms at birth, about 40 to 60 percent will go on to have long-term health impacts like hearing and vision loss, intellectual disability, and lack of coordination or weakness, according to the CDC.
CMV is the most common cause of nonhereditary hearing loss in children, health officials said.
"I am pleased that New York has become the second state to implement this screening which will help to protect and improve the health of children who are in the very beginning stages of life,” said State Health Commissioner James McDonald.
The move comes after the New York State Newborn Screening Program was awarded a contract from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) to provisionally add CMV to its screening panel.
The free test will be done during a baby’s routine newborn screening and those who test positive will be referred to a specialist. Parents can opt out of having the screening results recorded in their baby’s record.
New York began its newborn screening program in 1965 with testing for phenylketonuria, an inherited genetic disorder. Screenings now include over 50 different diseases.
More information on Cytomegalovirus can be found on the New York State Health Department’s website.
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