New Immunodeficiency Test For Texas Newborns
NORTH TEXAS (CBSDFW.COM) - Newborns in Texas will soon be screened for another potentially fatal disease. The condition is called Severe Combined Immunodeficiency or SCID.
SCID is actually a condition some adults may have heard of, a child with the disease cannot fight off common infections.
"Think the 'boy in the plastic bubble -- David Vetter' that's the condition we're talking about," explained Texas Department of State Health Services spokesman Chris Van Deusen.
Van Deusen says SCID is a life-threatening syndrome.
"The immune system doesn't develop properly, so if it's not treated and the child were to get essentially any infection it could progress to the point where that could be fatal," Van Deusen said. "Most children who have it [SCID], if it's not treated, don't make it to their first birthday."
Doctors say SCID is treatable if detected early.
Screening for disease will begin in September. The test will be run using the same bloodwork hospitals already collect.
Currently, infants in Texas are screened for 28 rare disorders.
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