You may have seen news reports about this boy living in a bubble, after all, he was a "net celebrity" in the last century and attracted everyone's attention. So, do you know who he is? He was none other than David Philip Witt from the United States.
Why did David live in a bubble? Has he spent his whole life here? How is this boy different from others? Did he finally succeed in getting out of the bubble? In fact, this child, who is known as the bubble boy, lives under the camera, although only separated by a transparent "bubble", but he is in two worlds with normal people. So, is he really born 20 seconds into the bubble? Is it true that he's been in the bubble for 12 years since then?
David Philip Witt longed for the outside world
The birth and growth of bubble boys
In fact, when David's mother became pregnant, she anticipated what the child would face after birth. It turned out that before he was born, his parents had just lost a boy who had died of a congenital genetic disease.
Yes, David's parents carried genes that would most likely cause their children to suffer from this genetic disorder. Therefore, they were devastated when they first lost their children, and although they longed to have another child, they were hesitant to think that this child would most likely die of illness after birth.
At this time, the doctors at the hospital suddenly said that they had thought of a way to let the child enter the "bubble" they prepared just after birth, and the baby was actually a sterile room, so that he could live here and wait for the opportunity of bone marrow transplantation. After learning the news, David's parents chose to try again, hoping to "cure" the child through this method.
Speaking of which, everyone may be wondering, why do you have to live in a sterile "bubble" when you are born? Because David's disease is called severe combined immunodeficiency disease, this genetic disease makes the outside world full of dangers for him, because his immunity is basically zero.
SCID, born with "zero immunity"
Imagine that both the dust in the air and the bacteria everywhere would infect or even die, so he could only live in the "bubble" specially made for him by the doctors, and could not make contact with the outside world.
David's parents were both distressed and worried about the child because they wanted David to survive and even said that they would have a normal life after receiving a bone marrow transplant. But his parents were worried about any accidents that David would have before or during the surgery, so outside this transparent sterile room, his parents have been taking good care of him, hoping that he will get more happiness in his lifetime.
Father who accompanied David through the bubbles to play
This can be seen from the furnishings in the sterile room, whether it is a toy or a food, parents listen to the doctor's words, and then put it in after sterilization. And they communicate with David every day through this "membrane" to help him understand and perceive the world.
It is worth mentioning that his parents also recorded the child's "different life" during this period, which immediately attracted the attention of many people. Everyone was infected by David's smile, because although he lived in the bubble and did not have the opportunity to come out and touch and perceive this fresh world, his big eyes were full of curiosity when he looked at the camera, and he often smiled. The strong David moved many people, some people sent him various toys, and some people wrote greeting cards hoping for his recovery.
Even if you can't live like a normal person, you still smile
It can be seen that although this child is "isolated" from the world, people still transmit warmth here. Even though many people have only seen this "bubble boy" through the lens, never meeting does not mean that good intentions cannot be allowed to arrive.
So David lived in the bubble 20 seconds after he was born and stayed here for 12 years. This is to wait for the development of medical technology and wait for his "miracle". Unfortunately, miracles don't happen every time, so after he underwent surgery at the age of 12, he developed lymphoma. The virus dealt a devastating blow to his already vulnerable immune system, like an ultimatum under death. David, who had been waiting for 12 years, finally couldn't wait for that "spring."
The funeral of Bubble Boy David
On February 22, 1984, david, as he died, seemed to understand that his "bubble life journey" was coming to an end. At this time, he made his last wish, which was to get out of the bubble and hug his mother. Because the hugs between his mother and David were always separated by a membrane over the years, he wanted to touch and hug his mother. After fulfilling this wish, he quietly passed away.
Before, I could only feel the warmth of my mother through the bubbles
This is the life of the bubble boy David, during this period, he has been happy and confused, and the most incomprehensible thing is why his life form is so weird, why everyone stands outside the bubble and looks at himself. However, the details of his 12 years were recorded by doctors, providing information for the treatment of children with the same disease.
Many might say that David's parents were irresponsible, knowing that he had a more than 50% chance of getting sick but still gave birth to him. Or that the doctor is irresponsible, just for medical observation and research, and even let a child live his life like this. And David's existence did make a great contribution to later medical research.
The departure of Bubble Boy David has made a huge contribution
Severe combined immunodeficiency disease
The disease that David suffers from is the most serious phenotype of primary immune diseases, although the overall incidence is between 1/50,000 and 1/100,000, but when medical care is not developed, the disease is basically equivalent to the death penalty, and the sick child will die within 1 year of age.
Experts believe that the disease can be caused by a variety of genetic defects, the most common of which is X-linked SCID caused by mutations in the chains of interleukin 2, 4, 7, 9, 15, and 21 shared receptor γ.
Regions of the United States included in SCID newborn screening
In fact, if the bubble boy David is in the medical department now, the chances of survival should be higher. Because at present, whether it is the mainland or abroad, there are many cases of cure. For example, Beijing Children's Hospital has performed a successful allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplant, which helped a child with severe combined immunodeficiency disease to rebuild his immune system and get a new life.
It should be noted that the most important thing is the need for matching and transplantation. So if there are brothers and sisters in the family who are successfully matched, it is of course a great joy, but if, like David, because his sister's genes are also defective, then it is still difficult to be cured smoothly.
David plays with his sister
However, experts believe that as long as it is found and treated as soon as possible, then the opportunity to rebuild the immune system and save the child's life is still very large, and after the hematopoietic stem cell transplantation, the child will not have to live in the "bubble" in the future. Because at this time, he already had an immune system, and he could no longer only make flowers in the greenhouse as before. In addition, experts said that after finding early warning symptoms, they should seek medical diagnosis in time to see if it is the disease, and avoid delaying it.
Speaking of which, in fact, whether it is the bubble boy David or later the child with this disease, doctors are looking for a better treatment for them, and some doctors think that gene therapy can be used to help them overcome the difficulty of poor bone marrow matching.
Pioneering new gene therapies
Gene therapy
On April 17, 2019, scientists said they had cured eight babies with "X-linked severe combined immunodeficiency disease" using experimental gene therapy. The specific method is to use modified HIV to pass on modified disease-causing genes to these children, so that they can obtain immune cells.
HIV virus
Many people may find it inconceivable, because doesn't HIV cause these children's immune systems to collapse again? But experts point out that this is modified, so there is no such situation, and according to observations, these children are developing normally after a year and a half, and there are no adverse reactions.
Data show that after 3 months of treatment with the new therapy, 7 out of 8 children produced a normal number of immune cells, including T cells, B cells and NK cells.
I hope that every child can grow up healthy and happy
It can be seen that at present, it seems that gene therapy is still very smooth. But in the end whether there are any side effects still need to be continuously observed, I sincerely hope that after the medical science is more and more developed, we can let other "bubble boys" get out of that bubble, feel the breeze, touch the afternoon sun, and have a real fresh life!