Newborn Baby in Virginia Has No Immune System

A newborn baby in Virginia was born without an immune system.

When Virginia mom, Tiffany Green, learned that her son has no immune system, she was shocked. What made her more afraid was the thought that her baby boy was born during the peak of the coronavirus pandemic.

The newborn baby's condition

Baby Parker was born in April. During this time, the cases of coronavirus patients were continuously rising.

The Virginia mom received the news about her newborn baby's condition a week after he was born. She was initially informed that the screening of baby Parker was abnormal.

Doctors told Tiffany that her newborn baby has a rare genetic condition. This case is called the SCID or the severe combined immunodeficiency, a condition that affects only one out of 60,000 births.

SCID patients do not have any T-cells which are "organizers of the immune system." A baby who has SCID has no cells that could protect them from the coronavirus. Something that has been giving the Virginia mom anxiety for quite some time now.

The coronavirus pandemic

Because of baby Parker's condition, Tiffany cannot stop thinking about her newborn baby getting the deadly coronavirus. She said, "That was one of them, one of the most important things that went through my mind is he's gonna get it."

Doctors said that any kind of infection is very dangerous for baby Parker.

Despite the anxiety and fear, the Virginia mom also sees the pandemic as a blessing in disguise. She shared, "Because we're all home anyway, so it wasn't anything new to my kids or me, and everybody's masking and social distancing, and it helps him out, too."

Fighting the disease during the pandemic

This case of the newborn baby in Virginia is something that can be cured when caught early, according to Dr. Blachy Davila of Children's National Hospital in D.C.

He said that through early interventions, babies with SCID have a chance to survive, compared to cases in the past. According to Dr. Davila, "Prior to the newborn screen, without any interventions, over 90 percent of these kids would die in their first year of life."

Since baby Parker's diagnosis, he had to undergo chemotherapy in June. He also had a bone marrow transplant, which meant he had to stay in the hospital.

However, he recovered quickly and has been home to bond with his sisters, Natalie and Avery.

Right now, as the newborn baby from Virginia is building his immune system, his family is also staying isolated at home.

Baby Parker is now five months old.