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Severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID) is recognized as a global pediatric emergency that manifests early in infancy. 1 In the absence of adaptive cellular and humoral immune response, infants with SCID are prone to life threatening infections around 4–6 months of age, as they lose protective maternal antibodies. Therefore, there is a narrow window of opportunity for early detection of infants with SCID during the asymptomatic period around birth. Newborn screening (NBS) is an essential solution for timely recognition and treatment of this otherwise fatal pediatric disease. Specifically, infants with SCID are highly susceptible to a broad spectrum of bacterial, fungal and viral infections. In addition to typical and opportunistic infections, live attenuated vaccine agents including Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) for tuberculosis, the oral poliovirus and rotavirus vaccines can result in severe complications including disseminated disease. 2-4 Therefore, it is imperative to perform NBS for SCID before live vaccines are administered, so patients at risk can be identified and the potentially harmful routine live vaccinations can be avoided for this vulnerable patient population.