The Down syndrome birth rate has significantly decreased with the introduction of screening tests from 22.28 per 100,000 live births in 2001 to 7.79 in 2010, the Taiwan Society of Perinatology said yesterday, urging all pregnant women to undertake the recommended tests.
The incidence of Down syndrome was 7.92 per 10,000 births between 2001 and 2010, which means that there was one infant born with the disorder in every 1,263 live births, according to the group, which said that the incidence increases with the age of the pregnant woman, with 1 in every 385 live births for pregnant women who are 35.
“The incidence rate for pregnant mothers aged 23 is about one per 1,000 to 1,500,” society president Tsai Ming-sing (蔡明松) said. “With advancing age, at 40, the risk increases to 1 in 100.”
A research team led by attending physician of obstetrics at National Taiwan University Hospital (NTUH) Lee Chien-nan (李建南) found that there is a positive impact of Down syndrome screening on Taiwanese births.
The second-trimester — 15 to 20 weeks — double test (AFP test and B-hCG test) was introduced to Taiwan in 1994 and has a detection rate of 60 percent; the test reduced the ratio of live-born to total Down syndrome occurrence (registered live births and still births) from 70.42 percent in 1994 to 48.74 percent in 2001, according to the team.
The ratio has further decreased to 25.88 percent in 2006, said Lee, when the first-trimester (10 to 13+6 weeks) screening, or nuchal translucency scan, was widely introduced in Taiwan.
However, as some pregnant women take a screening test only when they are in the second trimester of pregnancy, and as the detection rate of the second-trimester double test is not satisfactory, since 2008 the second-trimester quadruple test (with the addition of two more markers, uE3 and Inhibin A) has been used and has increased the detection rate to 81 percent.
The combination of the first and the new second trimester tests has decreased the ratio of live-born to total Down syndrome occurrence to 20.64 percent in 2008 and to 5.99 percent in 2010.
Obstetrician Lin Shin-yu of NTUH’s Hsin-Chu Branch, a co-author of the research, said that the amniocentesis, or amniotic fluid test (AFT), is very accurate in detecting the condition and is recommended by Taiwan’s health authority for pregnant women aged 35 years and over, despite some drawbacks.
“It has a risk of miscarriage of one to three per 1,000 due to its invasive character,” Lin said.
“AFT is also much more expensive,” Lin said.
DEFENSE: The National Security Bureau promised to expand communication and intelligence cooperation with global partners and enhance its strategic analytical skills China has not only increased military exercises and “gray zone” tactics against Taiwan this year, but also continues to recruit military personnel for espionage, the National Security Bureau (NSB) said yesterday in a report to the Legislative Yuan. The bureau submitted the report ahead of NSB Director-General Tsai Ming-yen’s (蔡明彥) appearance before the Foreign and National Defense Committee today. Last year, the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) conducted “Joint Sword-2024A and B” military exercises targeting Taiwan and carried out 40 combat readiness patrols, the bureau said. In addition, Chinese military aircraft entered Taiwan’s airspace 3,070 times last year, up about
A magnitude 4.3 earthquake struck eastern Taiwan's Hualien County at 8:31am today, according to the Central Weather Administration (CWA). The epicenter of the temblor was located in Hualien County, about 70.3 kilometers south southwest of Hualien County Hall, at a depth of 23.2km, according to the administration. There were no immediate reports of damage resulting from the quake. The earthquake's intensity, which gauges the actual effect of a temblor, was highest in Taitung County, where it measured 3 on Taiwan's 7-tier intensity scale. The quake also measured an intensity of 2 in Hualien and Nantou counties, the CWA said.
Taiwan is stepping up plans to create self-sufficient supply chains for combat drones and increase foreign orders from the US to counter China’s numerical superiority, a defense official said on Saturday. Commenting on condition of anonymity, the official said the nation’s armed forces are in agreement with US Admiral Samuel Paparo’s assessment that Taiwan’s military must be prepared to turn the nation’s waters into a “hellscape” for the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA). Paparo, the commander of the US Indo-Pacific Command, reiterated the concept during a Congressional hearing in Washington on Wednesday. He first coined the term in a security conference last
The Overseas Community Affairs Council (OCAC) yesterday announced a fundraising campaign to support survivors of the magnitude 7.7 earthquake that struck Myanmar on March 28, with two prayer events scheduled in Taipei and Taichung later this week. “While initial rescue operations have concluded [in Myanmar], many survivors are now facing increasingly difficult living conditions,” OCAC Minister Hsu Chia-ching (徐佳青) told a news conference in Taipei. The fundraising campaign, which runs through May 31, is focused on supporting the reconstruction of damaged overseas compatriot schools, assisting students from Myanmar in Taiwan, and providing essential items, such as drinking water, food and medical supplies,
RSS