Free screening for a deadly hereditary disorder will be available to students, employees and community members Wednesday and Thursday, said Dr. Oscar Battle, Jr., the Student Health Center’s health education coordinator.

The screening for Tay-Sachs disease is scheduled to be held from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Wednesday and Thursday in the Student Union’s multicultural center, and from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. Thursday in Joe West Hall, Battle said.

“It’s critical we do the screening because of the impact it has on families with children that have Tay-Sachs,” Battle said.

According to Battle, the disease attacks the nervous system of children born with the genetic disorder. Children with the disease usually die before age 6.

When two parents carry the Tay-Sachs gene, they have a one in four chance of having a child with the disease, Battle said.

Carriers of the gene will not know they have the gene unless they have the genetic test, Battle said.

According to Linda Foley, a genetic counselor for the Tay-Sachs program at University of California at San Francisco, one in 30 people from Jewish, Cajun and French-Canadian populations are carriers of the Tay-Sachs gene. In general populations, one in 150 people carry the gene.

When a child is born with the disease, it will begin to show signs of deterioration before it is a year-old. Some of the signs include the inability to sit up, speak and loss of limb control and sight, Battle said.

According to Battle, the disease becomes deadly when fatty tissue that is produced to keep nerve endings in the body protected, covers the brain, inhibiting its function.

There is no cure for the disease, Battle said, but there are preventative measures.

According to Foley, one way prospective parents can prevent having a child with the disease is by implanting a fertilized egg without the disease into the mother’s uterus.

Parents can also choose to adopt, Battle added.

According to Battle, the financial burden is enormous for parents that have a child with Tay-Sachs disease.

It costs about $250,000 to care for a child with the disease, Battle said.

The government must occasionally subsidize the costs, he said.

However, Battle said, by having free screenings, the government will save money.

According to Foley, the Tay-Sachs screening test usually costs about $70, but is not available at all medical institutions.

The screening takes about five minutes and requires one-and-a-half teaspoons of blood, Foley said.

The screening is done at San Jose State University every two years, and 125 to 300 people get tested, Foley said.

“Every year we have several people who have the Tay-Sachs gene,” Battle said.

Genetic counseling will be available at the screening if people have questions, Foley said.

The results of the blood test are slated to be mailed two weeks after the screening, Foley said.

Corrie Kraai, the activities coordinator for the multicultural center, said she is not sure how many people are interested, but students appear to be taking the informative fliers.

The assistant director for residential life, Heidi Wolcott, said she has also been trying to inform people of the screening.

“We hope there will be a big response because it’s free,” Wolcott said.

According to Wolcott, fliers about the screening were given to all of the students in the residence halls.

Battle said Student Health Services has been doing the screening for 19 years. Screening for Tay-Sachs also helps health services serve different ethnic communities, Battle said.

“We’re concerned about maintaining ethnic diversity in health care,” Battle said. “We need to diversify services as much as possible.”

Student Health Services has also had screenings for Sickle-Cell Anemia, which is prominent in African American communities, and Thalassemia, which is found primarily in Asian communities, Battle said.

According to Kraai, one reason the multicultural center wanted to get involved in the screening was because it involved various ethnicities.

“Since we are dealing with different groups of people, we thought it was important for us to work together,” Kraai said.