Newborn screening for hereditary metabolic disorders in Manitoba, 1965-1970

The newborn screening program for hereditary metabolic disorders in Manitoba is reviewed. In 1965, screening was begun on infants born in Metropolitan Winnipeg, and since January 1966 screening has been provincewide. Bloods from 85,868 infants have been screened so far. For the past two-and-a-half years 98.5% of live-born infants surviving the first seven days of life have been screened.The Guthrie bacterial inhibition test was used initially. In 1966 an evaluation was undertaken of one-dimensional amino-acid paper chromatography, and in 1969 this method replaced the Guthrie test. Five cases of phenylketonuria have been identified, and incidence of 1:17, 174. Screening for abnormal sugars in the blood has disclosed two cases of galactosemia. The incidence of galactosemia in the province is 1 in 16,069 live births.