Legislation Quick Search
03/28/2024 04:30 AM
Pennsylvania House of Representatives
https://www.legis.state.pa.us/cfdocs/Legis/CSM/showMemoPublic.cfm?chamber=H&SPick=20170&cosponId=22514
Share:
Home / House Co-Sponsorship Memoranda

House Co-Sponsorship Memoranda

Subscribe to PaLegis Notifications
NEW!

Subscribe to receive notifications of new Co-Sponsorship Memos circulated

By Member | By Date | Keyword Search


House of Representatives
Session of 2017 - 2018 Regular Session

MEMORANDUM

Posted: January 25, 2017 02:41 PM
From: Representative Angel Cruz
To: All House members
Subject: Cytomegalovirus Education and Newborn Screening Act (Former HB 1707)
 
In the near future, I plan to reintroduce legislation that would require the Department of Health to provide educational information regarding cytomegalovirus (CMV) and require testing of CMV in newborns that fail their newborn hearing screening or if the parent or guardian of the newborn requests the newborn be tested for CMV.


CMV is a little known but common virus that infects people of all ages, with over half of all adults in the United States having been infected by age 40. As one of the herpesviruses, CMV belongs to the same group of viruses that include chickenpox, shingles, mononucleosis, and herpes simplex viruses. Most people do not have symptoms when they are infected with CMV, and if they do, the symptoms are often mild. Once infected, just like with other herpesviruses, CMV remains with a person for life.


Because of its prevalence, CMV infection can occur while a woman is pregnant and the virus can potentially be passed to the baby, thus making CMV the most common congenital infection in the United States. About 1 in every 150 babies, or 30,000 total, are born with congenital CMV infection in the United States each year. Of these babies, 1 in 5 will develop permanent problems, such as hearing loss, which is the most common, vision loss, or developmental disabilities and an estimated 400 die due to the infection. This means that CMV causes more long-term health problems and childhood deaths than more well-known conditions, such as Down Syndrome, fetal alcohol syndrome and neural tube defects.


By requiring the Department of Health to provide educational information regarding CMV, we can create awareness about this little known yet common virus. Additionally, by testing for CMV in newborns that fail their newborn hearing screening or if the parent or guardian of the newborn requests the newborn be tested for CMV, we are better able to identify infected newborns and help in their developmental outcome.


Utah was the first state to pass legislation in 2013 requiring public education and testing of CMV. Connecticut, Hawaii, Illinois, Tennessee, and Texas have passed similar forms of legislation. I hope you will assist me in providing our children with a better chance at a healthy life by co-sponsoring this legislation and adding Pennsylvania to this list. Thank you in advance for your consideration.

If you have any questions or concerns, please contact my Harrisburg office at 717-705-1925.

Previous co-sponsors:
YOUNGBLOOD, KINSEY, MURT, ROZZI, THOMAS, MILLARD, DRISCOLL, READSHAW, McCARTER, McNEILL, MULLERY, D. COSTA, SCHWEYER, V. BROWN, COHEN AND WARD



Introduced as HB746