SIDS and SCID

13 May 1997

This question is for the doctors out there...not sure if anyone else saw
Dateline last night, but they had a segment on a couple who lost their first
baby to SCID (an immune deficiency (sp?)) and then became pregnant again.
When they found out this baby also had it, an operation was performed in utero
where they transferred marrow to the fetus. Anyhow...have there been any
studies comparing the two (SIDS vs. SCID)? Could there be a link? It
supposedly happens when a baby is young and they contract a cold, which could
turn into something worse. Did our babies have something similar?

The question is a good one. SCID is a very severe immune deficiency that
results in severe and eventually fatal infections. This is very different from
SIDS; death is not sudden and unexplained, and the autopsy would show obvious
evidence of severe infection.

I hope this is helpful.
Dr. Carl Hunt

25 May 1997

SCID (Severe Combined Immune Deficiency) is entirely different
from SIDS. The two entities are very different. Most SCID
disorders are inherited. As you know, SIDS is not. Thus, it is
imperative that families with one baby who died (or lives) with
SCID have all children tested. However, SCID is not a cuase of
SIDS. These babies are sick from the beginning, and death is due
to overwhelming infection.

Thanks.
---Tom Keens
Childrens Hospital Los Angeles