China News Service, Nanning, March 2 (Cai Hua Hailongbo) "Couples with one partner or family with a history of deafness, couples who already have deaf children and plan to have another child, deaf young people who want to reduce the risk of deafness in their offspring, and deaf patients who want to explore the causes of deafness. Deafness genetic screening can be carried out for people such as infants and newborns. Deafness genetic screening can detect the risk of hereditary deafness in advance and provide patients and families with opportunities for prevention, early intervention and personalized treatment." Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region People's Hospital Otolaryngology Head and Neck Tang Fengzhu, chief physician of the department, said in Nanning on the 1st.

　　March 3 is the 25th Ear Love Day in China.

The hospital launched a large-scale public welfare clinic event on the 2024 "Hear Love Day" on the 1st, providing free genetic screening for deafness to 2,000 families.

The picture shows the scene of the large-scale public welfare clinic event "Ear Care Day" of the People's Hospital of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.

Photo courtesy of Guangxi District People's Hospital

　　"For deafness gene carriers, deafness gene genetic counseling and prenatal diagnosis can be used after marriage to avoid passing the deafness gene to the next generation and achieve the purpose of eugenics and postnatal care." Tang Fengzhu reminded that ordinary people with normal hearing often have lurking deafness. Carriers of the gene, and those who have no symptoms of deafness but have blood relatives who are deaf, also need to undergo genetic screening for deafness.

　　Deafness genetic testing is divided into three levels of prevention, namely before pregnancy, during pregnancy, and newborn.

　　Genetic screening for deafness is also necessary in newborns.

Data from the Second National Sample Survey of Disabled Persons show that approximately 35,000 newborn deaf children are diagnosed every year.

The mutation carrying rate of deafness genes in the normal population is about 5%-6%.

A survey on newborns at the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region Nationalities Hospital showed that among 6,698 newborns born in the hospital from August 2017 to April 2021, 119 cases were positive for deafness gene screening, with a detection rate of 1.78%.

　　Among Chinese people, there has always been a saying that "ten deaf and nine dumb" refers to the fact that hearing impairment leads to language barriers.

"Before the age of 2 is the best intervention period for hearing, and then as the child's age increases, the difficulty of treatment will gradually increase." Tang Fengzhu said that this is because in the process of human growth and development, learning before the age of 3 is A critical period for language, after which brain plasticity decreases significantly.

　　"For newborns, if the child is deaf due to genetic mutation, but his auditory nerve and hearing transmission system are both good, cochlear implant surgery can be used to help him restore his hearing." Tang Fengzhu said that due to specific Due to genetic mutations or genetic sensitivities, some children are born with normal hearing, but head injuries, noise or infection, drug use and other reasons may cause the child's hearing to suddenly decrease, or even become completely deaf.

After conducting deafness genetic testing, you can try to avoid these situations, help delay the occurrence of hearing impairment, and use hearing aids or cochlear implants in time.

A doctor examines a child's ears.

Photo by Cai Huahai

　　In the future, birth defect prevention and treatment services such as genetic screening for deafness will become more universally accessible.

The National Health Commission proposed the 2027 goal in the "Birth Defects Prevention and Treatment Ability Improvement Plan (2023-2027)": the diagnosis rate of newborn hearing impairment within 3 months and the intervention rate within 6 months will both reach 90%.

　　Chen Ruichun, deputy chief physician of the Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Department of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region People's Hospital, said that general hearing impairment does not require cochlear implants.

"The method of treating congenital deafness depends on the severity of the deafness. Simply put, if the deafness is not severe (hearing loss less than 40 decibels), regular check-ups are needed. If the deafness is moderate to severe (hearing loss 40 to 80 decibels), then regular check-ups are required. Consider wearing a hearing aid. If the deafness is very severe (hearing loss exceeds 80 decibels), you need to consider a cochlear implant." (End)