OLYMPIA — Starting next year all babies born in Washington should be screened for the disease commonly known as “bubble boy” disease.
The state Board of Health decided at Wednesday’s meeting in Olympia to add Severe Combined Immunodeficiency (SCID) to the list of disease checks for newborns.
A baby with the disease is at risk to a life-threatening infection. It’s treated with a bone marrow transplant.
Many people were made aware of the disease by the 1976 TV movie “The Boy in the Plastic Bubble.”
A doctor at Seattle Children’s Hospital, Troy Torgerson, told KING-TV the screening requirement is a victory for physicians and families.
With early detection the survival rate goes up from 50 percent up to 95 percent.
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Information from: KING-TV, http://www.king5.com/
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