Evidence Suggests a Decrease in the Incidence of Kernicterus in California

Lucas Walz; Jordan C Brooks; Thomas Newman

doi:10.1016/j.jpeds.2022.11.023

Evidence Suggests a Decrease in the Incidence of Kernicterus in California

J Pediatr. 2023 Apr:255:220-223.e1. doi: 10.1016/j.jpeds.2022.11.023. Epub 2022 Dec 21.

Authors

Lucas Walz¹, Jordan C Brooks², Thomas Newman³

Affiliations

¹ Life Expectancy Project, San Francisco, CA.
² Life Expectancy Project, San Francisco, CA. Electronic address: [email protected].
³ Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of California-San Francisco, San Francisco, CA; Department of Pediatrics, University of California-San Francisco, San Francisco, CA.

PMID: 36563899
DOI: 10.1016/j.jpeds.2022.11.023

Abstract

We identified children diagnosed with kernicterus in the California Department of Developmental Services and estimated an incidence of 0.42 per 100 000 births from 1988 to 2014, significantly decreasing to 0.04 per 100 000 births after 2009. We also examined national infant kernicterus mortality from 1979 to 2016 using CDC data. It did not decrease significantly.

Keywords: hyperbilirubinemia; incidence; kernicterus; mortality; neonatal jaundice.

Publication types

Case Reports
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

California / epidemiology
Child
Humans
Hyperbilirubinemia / complications
Incidence
Infant
Infant Mortality
Infant, Newborn
Jaundice, Neonatal* / diagnosis
Kernicterus* / epidemiology
Kernicterus* / prevention & control