WILLIAM DONALD SCHAEFER, Governor Ch. 118
Article - Health - General
13-601.

(a)  In this subtitle the following words have the meanings
indicated.

(b)   "Risk factor" includes any of the following factors
that an infant may display and are considered relevant in
determining the possibility of a hearing impairment:

(1)  An admission for more than 48 hours to a neonatal
intensive care nursery;

(2)  An anatomical malformation that involves the head
or neck, including:

(i) A dysmorphic appearance;

(ii) A morphologic abnormality of the pinna;

(iii) An overt or submucous cleft palate; and

(iv) Any syndromal or nonsyndromal abnormality;

(3)  A severe asphyxia, including:

(i) An infant with an apgar score of 0-3 who
fails to institute spontaneous respiration within 10 minutes; or

(ii) An infant with hypotonia that persists
during the 1st 2 hours of the infant's life;

(4)  A bacterial meningitis, especially H. influenza;

(5)  A birth weight of less than 1500 grams;

(6)  A congenital perinatal infection, including
cytomegalovirus, herpes, rubella, syphilis, and toxoplasmosis;

(7)  A family history of a childhood hearing
impairment; and

(8)  A hyperbilirubinemia at a level that exceeds
indications for exchange transfusion.

(c)   "Hearing-impaired infant" means an infant who has an
impairment that is a dysfunction of the auditory system of any
type or degree which is sufficient to interfere with the
acquisition and development of speech and language skills with or
without the use of sound amplification.

(d)   "Infant" means a child who is under the age of 1 year.

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