The instant that toddler Khobi Jerome hears the opening notes of any song from Frozen, she’s up on her feet ready to perform, pulling her mother up to join her.
But Khobi would have been left profoundly deaf for life, had she not been given a world-first bedside genetic test minutes after she was born in Manchester.
Khobi’s hearing was saved by Genedrive – the world’s first genetic bedside test to be used in an emergency setting – which was put through a real-life trial at St Mary’s Hospital, Manchester, part of Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust.
The test was done on 751 newborns in 2020, to see whether it was accurate and reliable when used outside a lab, and whether it could be carried out by non-medical staff.
The answer to both questions was a resounding, yes. The test is so simple it can be done easily alongside other screening procedures and accuracy is more than 95 per cent.
Around 90,000 newborn babies in the UK are treated with gentamicin, which guidelines from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence say should be administered within the first hour.
