[Genetic screening in children].
Before giving a prescription on a genetic test, it is necessary to estimate if a real direct benefit exists for the children. This is right if the disease occurs during childhood and teenage and when the genetic status identified early may improve care, prevention and people accompaniment or if, on the contrary, knowing that the children has no risk to develop a disease will save him from a particularly restricted medical observation. At the opposite, letting him know his future may, for sure, cause him some trouble (disruption). The parents' distress and their hope for getting a negative test result should not be more important than the child's interest which has to prevail over his parents'. If the child has no risk to develop a genetic disease himself and if the risk concerns only his descendants, there is no reason for knowing his genetic status before he makes plans himself for his procreation.
Briard
M L
ML
Centre national d'information sur les maladies génétiques, 102, rue Didot, 75014 Paris, France. briard@necker.fr
D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004992:Ethics, Medical; D005817:Genetic Counseling; D020022:Genetic Predisposition to Disease; D005820:Genetic Testing; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D010287:Parent-Child Relations; D018570:Risk Assessment; D013315:Stress, Psychological