Poor baby Zach

[emsy]

So worried about Baby Zach. I know all kids pick up all kinds of germs and that is good because its how they build an immune system. But most kids get some kind of immune system from their mother. Not the case in baby Zach who has only the IGGs that I had pre infusion treatment which was described by the immuno prof as critical. I know from other posts on here that its very rare for children of a CVID patient to also have CVID and that they develop their own immune system about age 3 or 4, but in the mean time arn't they vulnerable? I know I have expressed concern before but Zach will be 1 year old next week and already has been hospitalised twice (once due to burns so not illness reated i know), and has needed ab's twice. Teething is hitting him hard right now, he is so tired all the time, wont eat (not like him at all!) and he has the most heartbreaking feeble cry at the moment that suggests a very sore throat and excrutiating pain. I think he may need more ab's for a throat infection. Teething never hit my other child Xander this bad and although Xander picks up infections too, they never last as long as with Zach and dont seem to knock him for six as badly as Zach. Am I being paranoid do you think?

[s162216]

Hi,

Babies start producing their own antibodies very shortly after birth, before that time they do have an incomplete immune system, although that doesn't mean that they can't fight infection at all; they have their maternal IgG and other antibodies of various types as well as cytokines etc from breast milk if the mother breast feeds. However as you can see in the graph below (nicked from a textbook), the maternal IgG declines until at about 6 months its practically gone (and also why SCID cannot be detected until then) but the babies own immune system produces more and more IgG as it ages to compensate so that eventually it is at the level of an adults around the age of 3 (and hence why you can't properly test for immunodeficiency until then).



Because of the 'dip' in total IgG as the maternal IgG depletes, thats why babies are more prone to become ill around 4 months of age. It may just be that Zach's immune system is developing not quite as fast as children develop at different rates and some are ill more than others like any other person, plus the fact that he would obviously have had less IgG then most children because of your own immunodeficiency but you can't blame yourself for that.

At the moment I would just keep an eye on him and if he keeps getting ill, have him tested for immunodeficiency when he's 3 or 4 as at the moment theres no way you can really test for it. Its likely that he'll not have CVID as it is rarely passed along families but it is a possibility.

Sam

[bob]

Hello,
Having had two sons, now adults, our experience is that in general a mother's instinct is usually right. So, Zach is obviously causing you great concern, and while all children are different in the way they go through the various stages, from teething onwards, my advice would be to follow your instinct and keep pressing the medics for their view. If he needs tested for any disorder, they will decide what to test and when, after all they have a wide sample of babies and children to compare individuals with so can either take action or put your mind at rest.
Best wishes
Bob

[emsy]

Thanks guys, that graph is really usefull Sam. I will just have to keep an eye on him.