A rapid DNA test can preserve the hearing ability of newborn babies, it is currently used by NHS hospitals.
Some babies respond differently to some of the commonly used antibiotics. The drug becomes toxic and targets the sensory cells of the inner ear leading to permanent hearing loss.
Babies vulnerable to antibiotics are now easy to detect through a rapid test which can analyse the baby’s DNA. These babies are prescribed with an alternative antibiotic set and the lifetime hearing damage is avoided.
Gentamicin is a first choice antibiotic for the newborn bacterial infection. However, this antibiotic poses a side effect to some people having a slight difference in their DNA composition, which tends to bind the antibiotics more strongly to receptors in the ear and become toxic.
The hearing receptors help in transmitting the sound converted electrical signals to the brain and if they are damaged, it leads to hearing loss. This is a common hearing loss that some babies get in their childhood, however no test was there, till date that can prevent the side effects, and delaying the treatment is dangerous in this case.
A genedrive kit analyses checks for the susceptible genes in the sample taken from the baby’s cheek. The test can detect the susceptible baby within 26 minutes. This test can avoid the hearing loss in babies that show side effects to some antibiotics.