Eight-month-old Afghan baby receives new lease of life after rare bone marrow transplant

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Noida: An eight-month-old Afghan baby underwent a rare half-matched bone marrow transplant in in a private hospital in India.

Mujib suffered from severe Combined Immunodeficiency in which a person is born without a functioning immune system, increasing his or her risk of developing fatal infections. And as a result, he also had high fever, pneumonia and diarrhoea.

Mujib's two elder brothers had already lost their lives to this illness in their infancy.

The successful transplant was performed by the doctors of Jaypee Hospital.

They conducted bone marrow transplant from his one surviving brother Arian, aged four years, and whose blood tests confirmed normal lymphocyte counts so he could serve as a donor for his younger brother.

But, Arian had only 50 per cent match with Mujib.

Pawan Kumar Singh, Associate Consultant at Jaypee Hospital said in a statement here on Thursday said "In severe Combined Immunodeficiency, the patient's life can only be saved by bone marrow transplant but performing a half-matched bone marrow transplant on an eight-month-old baby was itself a challenging task".

The human immune system has white blood cells called lymphocytes which protect the body from infections. Before the transplant, Mujib had almost zero lymphocytes in his blood.

"After the transplant, his lymphocyte count has approached normal and is expected to continue to improve over the next several weeks. Mujib can now lead a normal life like other kids without the risk of fatal infections," noted Esha Kaul, Associate Consultant at Jaypee Hospital.

(With IANS inputs)