Each weekday, Kathryn Barrett brings you the latest developments in medicine, on 13NEWS . In an alert issued to the nearly 5,000 hospitals it evaluates, The Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations issued an alert to nearly 5,000 hospitals it evaluates, saying doctors are seeing a re-emergence of a rare condition called kernicterus, or jaundice, in newborns. It s a condition in which one out of two babies develops. Jaundice makes babies look yellow.
Intensive phototherapy is the treatment and it works like a charm.
The problem comes when the jaundice isn't noticed. Untreated, it can cause dire consequences. It makes the baby sleepy. It makes the baby irritable and the baby doesn't feed well. Hospitals are receiving a new alert to be aware of a link between untreated jaundice and brain damage.