This section defines terms used in the chapter, including the department, office, program, risk factors, and hearing-loss screening.
§2263. Definitions Except where the context clearly indicates otherwise, in this Chapter: (1) "Advisory council" means the advisory council created pursuant to R.S. 46:2265. (2) "Department" means the Louisiana Department of Health. (3) "Deaf or hard of hearing infant" means an infant who has a disorder of the auditory system of any type or degree, causing hearing loss sufficient to interfere with the development of language and speech skills. (4) "Infants susceptible to a hearing disability" means those infants who are susceptible to hearing loss because they have one or more risk factors. (5) "Office" means the office of public health within the department. (6) "Program" means the program that the office of public health establishes to provide for the early identification and follow-up of infants susceptible to a hearing disability, of deaf or hard of hearing infants, and of infants who have a risk factor for developing progressive hearing loss. (7)(a) "Risk factors" means those criteria or factors, any one of which identifies an infant as being susceptible to hearing loss. (b) The risk factors that identify those neonates, infants from birth through the first twenty-eight days, who are susceptible to sensorineural hearing loss include the following: (i) Family history of congenital or delayed onset childhood sensorineural impairment. (ii) Congenital infection known or suspected to be associated with sensorineural hearing loss such as toxoplasmosis, syphilis, rubella, cytomegalovirus, and herpes. (iii) Craniofacial anomalies including morphologic abnormalities of the pinna and ear canal, absent philtrum, low hairline, et cetera. (iv) Birth weight less than one thousand five hundred grams or less than three and three tenths pounds. (v) Hyperbilirubinemia at a level exceeding indication for exchange transfusion. (vi) Ototoxic medications, including but not limited to the aminoglycosides used for more than five days, such as gentamicin, tobramycin, kanamycin, streptomycin, and loop diuretics used in combination with aminoglycosides. (vii) Bacterial meningitis. (viii) Severe depression at birth, which may include infants with Apgar scores of zero to three at five minutes or those who fail to initiate spontaneous respiration by ten minutes or those with hypotonia persisting to two hours of age. (ix) Prolonged mechanical ventilation for a duration equal to or greater than ten days, such as persistent pulmonary hypertension. (x) Stigmata or other findings associated with a syndrome known to include sensorineural hearing loss, such as Waardenburg or Usher Syndrome. (xi) Other risk factors added or deleted by the office of public health upon recommendation of the advisory council for early identification of deaf or hard of hearing children. (c) The factors that identify those infants aged twenty-nine days to two years who are susceptible to sensorineural hearing loss include the following: (i) Parent or caregiver concerns regarding hearing, speech, language, or developmental delay. (ii) Bacterial meningitis. (iii) Neonatal risk factors that may be associated with progressive sensorineural hearing loss, such as cytomegalovirus, prolonged mechanical ventilation, and inherited disorders. (iv) Head trauma, especially with either longitudinal or transverse fracture of the temporal bone. (v) Stigmata or other findings associated with syndromes known to include sensorineural hearing loss, such as Waardenburg or Usher Syndrome. (vi) Ototoxic medications, including but not limited to the aminoglycosides used for more than five days, such as gentamicin, tobramycin, kanamycin, streptomycin, and loop diuretics used in combination with aminoglycosides. (vii) Neurodegenerative disorders such as neurofibromatosis, myoclonic epilepsy, Werdnig-Hoffman disease, Tay-Sachs disease, infantile Gaucher's disease, Niemann-Pick disease, any metachromatic leukodystrophy, or any infantile demyelinating neuropathy. (viii) Childhood infectious diseases known to be associated with sensorineural hearing loss, such as mumps or measles. (ix) Other risk factors added or deleted by the office of public health upon recommendation of the advisory council for early identification of deaf or hard of hearing children. (8) "Screening for hearing loss" means employing a device for identifying whether an infant has a disorder of the auditory system, but may not necessarily provide a comprehensive determination of hearing thresholds in the speech range. Procedures may include auditory brainstem response (ABR) screening, evoked otoacoustic emissions (EOAE) screening, and other devices approved by the office upon recommendation of the advisory council. Acts 1992, No. 417, §1; Acts 1999, No. 653, §1; Acts 2017, No. 146, §11.