Antonio Condino-Neto talks about the importance of medical follow-up in early childhood, providing greater security and well-being throughout life
São Paulo, October 2022 – Today, October 12, is Children’s Day. The date, very popular in Brazil, celebrates children’s rights and seeks to raise awareness of society, especially parents, about the care needed during this stage of life.
According to the Statute of Children and Adolescents (ECA), an individual with up to fourteen years of age is considered a child. And to ensure that children have a good development, health care needs to start with newborns, right in early childhood. After all, it is the care after birth that will guarantee and promote well-being throughout life.
Antonio Condino-Neto, President of the Department of Immunology of the Brazilian Society of Pediatrics and Coordinator of the Laboratory of Human Immunology at ICB-USP, explains that the first days of a newborn’s life are crucial for the possible discovery of asymptomatic diseases at birth. , but of early manifestation and catastrophic evolution, such as inborn errors of metabolism and inborn errors of immunity.
The doctor, who is also a founding partner of Immunogenic, the first laboratory specializing in neonatal screening for Inborn Immunity Errors through the heel prick test, highlights that the examination is mandatory. “The heel prick test is performed on newborn children, from the drops of blood collected from the baby’s heel, allowing the identification of serious diseases that are asymptomatic at birth and that can cause serious damage to health if they are not diagnosed and treated early”.
Currently, the heel prick test has been expanded to include up to 50 new rare diseases, including screening for primary immunodeficiencies. Previously, the exam included only six diseases: phenylketonuria, congenital hypothyroidism, sickle cell anemia, cystic fibrosis, congenital adrenal hyperplasia and biotinidase deficiency. The Federal Government sanctioned the Bill in May 2021 and the Unified Health System (SUS) was responsible for its implementation, which should last four years.
In addition to the heel prick test, Condino-Neto points out that other tests are also essential, such as inborn errors of metabolism, innate errors of immunity, little ear test, little eye test, complete physical examination at birth (aiming to detect visible congenital anomalies) and passage of a nasogastric tube with aspiration of secretions at birth (aiming to detect esophageal anomalies). “Parents should also pay attention to the vaccination schedule, taking their children to take the vaccines, according to the rules of the Ministry of Health”, concludes the doctor.
About Immunogenic
Immunogenic is the first laboratory specialized in neonatal screening of Inborn Errors of Immunity through the heel prick test. The company is the result of the spin-off process of the Laboratory of Human Immunology of the Institute of Biomedical Sciences (ICB) of the University of São Paulo.
The experience and knowledge in the academic environment make Immunogenic the only one in the health segment to offer a line of medical and scientific care in the area of primary immunodeficiencies. The company also leads an advanced neonatal research program in Brazil and is a reference in analysis, diagnosis and scientific research on primary immunodeficiencies.
The program has the support of the Jeffrey Modell Foundation for Immunodeficiencies, in the United States, and collaboration with the University of Massachusetts and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), in the United States; from the University of Leiden, in the Netherlands; and Karolinska University in Sweden. The laboratory, initially incubated at CIETEC, a startup hub at the University of São Paulo (USP), is currently part of the Albert Einstein hospital’s Eretz.bio acceleration program. More information on the website .
Alice Vieira
