Beware of the dangerous side effects of hearing loss in children!
Hearing loss is the most common congenital defect and the prevalence rate hearing loss At the time of birth, it is more than 2 times the sum of other evaluable disorders of children.
The child starts learning language from the first months of birth, hearing loss is a factor that endangers this process. Hearing loss brings with it wide complications and causes serious damages in the natural development of speech and language. On the other hand, hearing tests are very accurate and can detect very weak hearing loss. Researches have shown that the failure to detect monocular hearing loss increases the possibility of children’s educational retardation up to 10 times.
Since hearing loss is the most common congenital problem after mental and physical disabilities, the implementation of the screening plan hearing It is necessary in the beginning months of birth. Otorhinolaryngology specialist and research deputy of Shiraz University of Medical Sciences told our reporter in this regard: Hearing screening is very important all over the world and if hearing loss is diagnosed in infancy and in time for permanent treatment, surgery Or using a hearing aid will have a very positive effect on the speech and social development of the child in the future.
Dr. Seyed Basir Hashemi added: If hearing-impaired children are not identified in time, they lag behind their peers in terms of speech development and suffer irreparable problems in terms of communication and speech. If these children are deaf, they face much more complications and lose the golden time for cochlear implantation, which is under 2 years old.
A member of the hearing cochlear implantation team of Shiraz University of Medical Sciences said: If screening for hearing impaired children is done in the first months of birth, under 6 months of age, and if there is a problem, treatment is done from the beginning, they can be like normal children from They will enjoy life, games and classes, and their intellectual, speech and social development will be normal and in line with their peers.
Dr. Hashemi added: The control of non-communicable diseases is among the policies of the Ministry of Health and Treatment, and hearing screening and its control are among these priorities and can play a major role in reducing disabilities. This otolaryngologist said: Currently, the coverage of hearing screening to identify deaf and hard of hearing people is 60 to 70 percent, and policymakers should move towards 100 percent of this type of screening.
Dr. Hashemi said: According to available statistics, there are 2 to 3 deaf babies out of every 1,000 births in Fars, and one person is born deaf in every 1,000 births. This disease is one of the common and silent disabilities and does not have very specific external effects. He added: About 80,000 babies are born in Fars every year, of which 200 are deaf, and at least 15% of them are due to lack of early diagnosis and timely medical services. rehabilitation They stay open.
Dr. Hashemi said: the birth of a premature baby, hospitalization in the intensive care unit after birth, jaundice and blood transfusion for this reason, as well as meningitis in a newborn increase the probability of deafness, so that out of every 50 babies who In the mentioned conditions, a case becomes deaf.
The General Director of Fars Welfare also mentioned: In terms of prevalence, hearing loss and deafness are the most common after physical, movement and mental disabilities, and there are about 20,000 deaf and hard of hearing people in Fars. Dr. Seyed Morteza Mousavi added: In some cities where family marriages are more common, the prevalence of hearing loss and deafness is also higher, and despite this, it is one of the disabilities that can be minimized with timely diagnosis and early intervention. Deafness is hearing loss and deafness.
He reminded: 34 hearing screening centers are active in the province and the related device with a trained person is stationed in each center and parents can also request to perform this screening for the baby. This device detects the disorder, but for Specialized diagnosis, if necessary, and in the next steps, the baby is referred to an audiologist hearing expert (specialist Audiometry) and finally, an otolaryngologist will be referred, and if cochlear implantation is needed, he will be referred to the relevant team.
The deputy of fars welfare prevention development affairs also stated: the hearing screening plan has been going on for years in welfare to prevent hearing disabilities and in this regard there is a plan called “one-three-six” according to which before one Month-old babies should undergo hearing screening so that timely intervention can be done if necessary.
Mahmoud Reza Arab continued: Diagnostic measures are performed at three months and medical, medicinal, therapeutic and rehabilitation measures are performed at six months, such as hearing aids and colostrum implantation.
He said: Failure to diagnose hearing loss in a child on time can lead to speech delay and other irreparable complications, and if these things are delayed until 10 years old, it will cause many problems and the child will no longer be a normal person. which cannot communicate effectively with the outside environment.
Arab said: Last year, the number of urban and rural live births in Fars was 88,790, of which 68,158 babies were screened for hearing in 34 centers in the province, and we were able to screen 77% of them, and we are trying to do so. This year, we will increase this amount to 95%.
According to him, the number of babies who reached the stage of diagnosis after hearing screening in the province last year was 505, and 159 babies reached the intervention stage who were suffering from hearing impairment, of which 118 needed hearing aids after the tests. and medical intervention has been done for 41 babies.
This welfare officer of Fars added: In 29 cities of the province, with the cooperation of the Vice-Chancellor of Treatment of Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, hearing screening stations, which are mostly located in maternity hospitals, have been considered for hearing screening, and parents in all parts of Fars can refer for this purpose.
Arab added: Families themselves should take this issue seriously when a baby is born, they should visit our centers for hearing screening before one month of age, so that hearing impairment and deafness can be minimized.
Source: Khabar Online