CVID and siblings

[liverbird]

Hi All,

How many of you with CVID also have a sibling with CVID? Is this common?

Thanks!

[s162216]

Hi,

I don't think that you'll find too many people with CVID have siblings or even parents/children with the condition as well - whilst CVID is a genetic condition, based on epidemiology studies the current opinion is that most cases are the result of new mutations in the persons DNA rather than from them being passed on.

CVID is actually a 'diagnosis of exclusion' as there is no distinct yes/no test: rather basically if you don't have XLA (i.e no antibodies at all and can be found by genetic screening), CD40 ligand deficiency or any of the other immunodeficiency conditions then you have CVID. CVID is also not just one condition, it is a collection of sub conditions that all have the same overall effect (i.e impaired production of antibodies) but have different causes (e.g defects at any stage of antibody production, T-cell problems etc etc).

I hope you find this helpful and if you have any questions then feel free to ask.

Sam