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DISEASE CONTROL
DIVISION
The primary mission of the Disease Control Division is to test human specimens, food and water for diseases of public health significance. Much of this testing is unique to the Hygienic Laboratory. The testing services help prevent the spread of disease in Iowa through the detection of infectious germs, newborn screening for genetic disorders and maternal screening.

Newborn Screening

The Newborn Screening section identifies infants at risk for more than 50 inherited diseases by testing a small blood spot obtained from a simple heel-stick shortly after birth. At this age, most infants with an inherited condition show no obvious signs of disease. However, with special tests, the Newborn Screening Program can identify an infant who may be at risk, and alert the doctor and caregivers of the need for special medical treatment for the infant.

With early diagnosis and medical treatment, complications from these serious, but uncommon, conditions can usually be prevented. The goal is to identify the disorder before the problem has time to cause damaging health effects.

The Iowa Newborn Screening Program is a collaborative effort between the Department of Public Health, the State Hygienic Laboratory, the University of Iowa Children’s Hospital and Central Delivery Service of Iowa. In addition to Iowa, the program provides newborn screening for North Dakota and South Dakota.

Major achievements:

  • The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel published an investigative report in November 2013 about delays nationwide in delivery of newborn screening specimens to testing laboratories. The Iowa Newborn Screening Program was cited as the top performer in the report, with 99.8 percent of newborn screening specimens delivered from hospitals to the screening laboratory within five days of collection.
  • The program completed the validation studies for screening for Severe Combined Immunodeficiency and implemented the assay into the screening panel in July 2014.


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