Bubble Baby Syndrome

• A two-month-old girl has become the youngest to receive bone marrow transplant from an unrelated donor.
• The baby was diagnosed with ‘bubble baby syndrome’.

ABOUT BUBBLE BABY SYNDROME

• It is also known medically as severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID).
• It’s a very rare genetic disorder that causes life-threatening problems with the immune system.
• Babies with SCID are born without an immune system, making them vulnerable to life-threatening infections.
• The genetic defect linked to SCID leads to a deficiency in Lymphocytes (type of White blood cells), which are a crucial component of our immune system.
  • Two main types of Lymphocytes –
    • T cells identify, attack, and kill “invaders.”
    • B cells make antibodies that “remember” an infection for future protection against infections.
  • Without a bone marrow transplant, most children with SCID succumb to infections before reaching their first birthday.
• The only cure for a bubble baby syndrome is a bone marrow transplant from a healthy donor. The transplant replaces the child’s faulty immune system with a healthy one.

ABOUT BONE MARROW TRANSPLANT

• A bone marrow transplant is also called a stem cell transplant or, more specifically, a hematopoietic stem cell transplant.
• It can be used to treat certain types of cancer, such as leukemia, myeloma and lymphoma, and other blood and immune system diseases.
• Bone marrow transplants may use cells from the same person (autologous transplant) or from a donor (allogeneic transplant).