Severe Combined Immune Deficiency (SCID) is a group of rare disorders which is an inherited primary immunodeficiency disease. The immune system does not have functional B and T cells as well as the antibody IgA. Usually affecting children, SCID results in an extremely weakened immune system that cannot fight even mild infections. It affects 1 in 58,000 infants.
David Phillip Vetter – affectionately called “Boy in the Bubble”- was born in Texas, 1971. He was diagnosed with SCID and was placed in a sterilised plastic isolator bubble, where he spent 12 years of his life. Doctors faced an ethical dilemma when this temporary medical solution ended up being a permanent one. Water, air, food, diapers and clothes were sterilized before entering the sterile chamber, through a system of air locks. Vetter was touched only through special plastic gloves attached to the walls of the chamber and the chamber was kept inflated by air compressors. His parents and the medical team sought out to provide him as normal a life as possible, including a formal education, and a television and playroom inside the sterile chamber. Even though he lived in an isolated environment, David was an exceptionally bright and a thoughtful boy who wanted to explore outer space. In 1975, NASA designed a spacesuit that would allow David to leave the hospital but there were many complications, it was worn only six times.
During his long confinement, medical technology progressed. He received an experimental bone marrow transplant from his sister, who was not a matching donor. At first the operation seemed successful but an undetected Epstein-Barr virus in her marrow triggered lymphoma in David and he passed away at the age of 12. This was the first evidence that viruses could directly cause cancer. and once again, David's life, an incredible journey, had provided new insights into the relationship between pathogens, the immune system, and the development of cancer. Information that has impacted many lives. Thanks to the scientific contributions of this remarkable boy, today more than 90% of infants born with SCID are successfully treated with bone marrow transplants. Long-term sterile isolation is no longer offered as a treatment option for SCID.
-Shariyah Rahman (III CZM)
To read more :
2. David Vetter : https://abcnews.go.com/Archives/video/bubble-boy-david-vetter-receives-bone-marrow-transplant-62484329
3. Epstein-Barr virus : https://www.healthline.com/health/epstein-barr-virus
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