You’ve probably heard of “bubble boy” or “bubble baby” disease, where a child diagnosed with it has to live in a germ-free, sterile and contained environment, because they’re extremely vulnerable to infectious diseases. The more accurate name is severe combined immunodeficiency disease or SCID, and children born with it often don’t survive past their first few years, especially if they’re undiagnosed or untreated. Here’s where newborn screening can play a vital role in picking up these cases early and thus giving these babies a chance at life. We speak to Associate Professor Dr Adli Ali, consultant paediatric immunologist and Bruce Lim, President of Malaysian Patients' Organisation for Primary Immunodeficiencies (MYPOPI) to find out.

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