COVID-19 Pandemic-Related Impacts on Newborn Screening Public Health Surveillance

Abstract

Newborn screening (NBS) is an essential public health service that performs screening to identify those newborns at increased risk for a panel of disorders, most of which are genetic. The goal of screening is to link those newborns at the highest risk to timely intervention and potentially life-saving treatment. The global COVID-19 pandemic led to disruptions within the United States public health system, revealing implications for the continuity of newborn screening laboratories and follow-up operations. The impacts of COVID-19 across different states at various time points meant that NBS programs impacted by the pandemic later could benefit from the immediate experiences of the earlier impacted programs. This article will review the collection, analysis, and dissemination of information during the COVID-19 pandemic facilitated by a national, centralized technical assistance and resource center for NBS programs.

Newborn Screening in a Pandemic—Lessons Learned

“…Staff employed within essential aspects of the pathway (laboratories, hospitals, and couriers) faced shortages due to sickness, quarantine, and school and daycare closures, or the diversion of staff and resources to support activities directly related to meeting the needs created by COVID-19. Staff shortage and changes in routine led to additional work and increased stress, anxiety, and burnout among the healthcare workforce [ 10 , 15 , 16 ]. The additional workload often prevented the use of annual leave, and measures to allow this to be deferred were implemented [ 16 ].…”

“…Physical distancing and the usage of personal protective equipment were recommended to reduce additional COVID-19 infections in the NBS teams [ 15 ]. Monitoring to identify pyrexia and other signs of possible COVID-19 were undertaken, and if positive signs were present or contact with a COVID-19-positive person was established, testing for SARS-CoV-2 was performed.…”

“…Established work patterns and workflows were also modified [ 16 ]. In Texas, a six-day work week was implemented to minimize delays in testing [ 15 ]. Working in two shifts was introduced in some centers (for example Victoria, Australia, and Prague, Czech Republic), alternating the workforce on a weekly or 3-day basis to reduce the risk of COVID-19 infections spreading among the whole team [ 6 , 10 ].…”

“…Patients faced problems getting to the NBS facilities for blood draws because of restrictions on provincial borders [ 22 ]. The education of midwives was required using on-line training material, so that newborns could be tested in a home setting or sent to the hospital [ 15 ]. To cross the regional borders, ambulances were sometimes used to transport the patients [ 22 ].…”

“…Incident reporting, identifying weaknesses, and constantly seeking solutions through the cooperation of different parts of NBS services should be an integral part of the NBS system [ 15 ]. We report experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic and aim to identify examples of good practices that could prove valuable during future pandemics or in other public health emergencies.…”