Severe Combined Immunodeficiency Syndrome

Paper Summary:

This paper presents a medical overview of SCIDS and considers the ethical question raised by such a disease. The paper first describes the main features that characterize the disease, its most obvious symptoms, how it is diagnosed and its causes and treatment. Next, the paper discusses the case of David Vetter, otherwise known as the "Bubble Boy" and the life he led as a victim of this disease and how his story raised important ethical issues regarding the degree of medical intervention that should occur in cases where the subject has a known fatal disease.

From the Paper:

"Severe combined immunodeficiency syndrome, also known as SCIDS or the "bubble boy" disease, is a primary immune deficiency which results in a highly impaired immune system. This leaves the subject vulnerable to bacterial, viral, fungal or protozoal infections which are much more lethal than in a non-SCIDS subject. Because the symptoms of SCIDS are so similar to those of AIDS, children with the symptoms are often misdiagnosed with HIV disease. This misdiagnosis generally delays taking other measure that could be potentially life-saving, since without rapid treatment, the disease is usually fatal within the first 12 months of life."

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