

Gene therapy has been shown to successfully restore immune cell function in children. It could be a breakthrough for children who are unable to receive a bone marrow transplant or for whom bone marrow transplants don’t work. Gene therapy is an emerging option for SCID. Gene therapy for severe combined immunodeficiency Bone marrow transplants have the highest success rates when they’re performed in the first 3 months of a child’s life and when the donor is a healthy relative. Bone marrow transplant: At this time, a bone marrow transplant is the only cure for SCID.Enzyme replacement therapy: Enzyme replacement therapy repairs defective proteins in the body so that the immune system can gain function.Immunoglobulin replacement: Immunoglobulin replacement is a short-term therapy that uses donated plasma to provide antibodies to a child with SCID.Antibiotics: Antibiotics treat and prevent infections.The exact treatment plan will depend on your child’s exact needs. Options such as bone marrow transplants can repair a child’s immune system, and treatments such as immunoglobulin and enzyme replacement therapy help keep children healthy while they wait for bone marrow transplants.Ĭhildren who are treated in the first few months of life have high odds of a good treatment outcome.Įarly treatment is very important for children with SCID. Today, thanks to newborn screening, early interventions, and advances in treatments, children with SCID can be successfully treated. It was common for SCID to be undiagnosed until a child was about 6 months old and already seriously ill. Children with SCID typically died in early childhood after repeated and frequent infections. Until very recently, SCID was nearly always fatal. This condition causes an incredibly weak immune system. Severe combined immunodeficiency disease (SCID) is a very rare genetic disorder that affects about 1 in every 100,000 births in the United States. There are now tests and treatments for this severe, inherited condition.

It causes affected children to have a very weak immune system. SCID is a rare disease that appears in infancy.
