A diagnosis of SCID can be overwhelming for parents. Some may wonder, is it necessary to treat the child? Is it okay to wait and see how the child progresses? The most direct answer to these questions is — do not wait to treat.

A child with SCID, like all children, is born with some immunity to infection obtained from the birth mother during gestation. That immunity will be gone after a few months. The child will be vulnerable to potentially deadly germs. So, it is extremely important to get started with the treatment process at once.

Timely treatment is of utmost importance. Children with SCID who are diagnosed within the first few months of life, have not developed infections, and undergo early treatment have a survival rate of greater than 90%.

Most children with SCID are treated with hematopoietic stem cell transplant, or HSCT, also known as bone marrow transplant.