Guest editorial : Inborn errors of immunity

Abstract

It was around 1973. Two years after the birth of David Vetter. David’s story captivated the mainstream media and the hearts of those who followed his sad case. He suffered from severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID) and his doctors tried to isolate him from microbes in a plastic bubble. NASA even made him a special ‘spacesuit’ for walkouts. David spent 12 years inside his bubble ... and he did not die from an overwhelming infection. He died from lymphoma.