Book on immune deficiencies by Aster CMI

While the Healthcare industry’s attention is transfixed on COVID-19, many primary immunodeficiency diseases are currently left unchecked and under-diagnosed.

Did you know that one in every thousand individuals globally suffer from a problem in their immune system and are unable to fight infections in a normal way? What is more frightening is that more than 10,000 people in Bengaluru may be suffering the same even as you read this.

The current global pandemic has now more than ever made it crucial for stakeholders in the healthcare industry to invest in the understanding of Immunology as many children continue to suffer immune deficiencies, and are possibly at an increased risk of developing severe COVID illness.

To create awareness about such diseases amongst doctors and the general public, Aster CMI Hospital has launched a book called “Primary Immune Deficiencies Made Simple” authored by Dr Sagar Bhattad, DM Paediatric Immunology and Rheumatology at Aster CMI.

The book aims to strengthen the capacity of every paediatrician and physician, and help diagnose such children at an early stage. The book also is an informative read for the general public as it explains Primary immunodeficiency diseases (PIDD) in an engaging manner.

Dr Bhattad explains there are a group of more than 400 rare chronic disorders in which part of the body’s immune system is missing, or functions improperly. In such diseases, children are born with a problem or deficiency in their white-blood cells, which are the fighters in our bodies.

When these white-blood cells are deficient or not functioning normally, the body is at severe risk and develops persistent, recurrent and unusual infections. Many children who are prone to such diseases are hospitalized several times, and some children succumb to it even before being diagnosed correctly.

The book also throws light on various ways and measures required to diagnose immune deficiency in patients such as highlighting the understanding of family history, age-appropriate norms for immunological tests and types of blood sample tests required.

Physicians can refer to this book and make life-saving decisions in a short span of time. The book also gives a clinical approach to the readers and discusses real-life cases to identify these conditions very easily for a practitioner even in a remote village or town.

“We have seen many families wherein multiple children have died before the index case gets diagnosed. In serious immune deficiencies such as Severe Combined Immune Deficiency, the mortality rate is 100% in the absence of treatment. Today, many children and adults continue to suffer, as they have not been diagnosed with the underlying immune deficiency.”

“They often would be visiting many physicians, gastroenterologists and pulmonologists. Here, they would be treated for infections (lung, gut and such), but the core problem remains undiagnosed. Therefore, it is time that we raise awareness and provide the right knowledge on PIDD to the medical fraternity and to common citizens, so that they don’t remain unchecked, while gaining maximum recovery rate”, says Dr Bhattad.