Lorie Peters has seen both sides of a deadly disease.
The Ontario woman lost her infant daughter, Brooklyn, to what at first began as a typical cough. Afterwards, the Peters discovered that Brooklyn suffered from Severe Combined Immune Deficiency, or SCID. She was born without an immune system. The condition is often misdiagnosed because it is quite rare and has no obvious symptoms until an infection sets in. Many children with SCID don't live to see their first birthday. It's also known as "Bubble Boy" disease.
Knowing the disease is genetic, Peters had her two subsequent children tested immediately after birth via a simple blood test. One, Ethan, tested positive.
That early detection was crucial. The search went out immediately for a bone marrow donor. A match was found, and with the bone marrow came a functioning immune system. Now Ethan is a healthy, happy 8-year old boy. "I didn't have an immune system and somebody gave me an immune system from Germany," he says.
Today the Peters were at the Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario to help announce the hospital's Newborn Screening Ontario lab will be the first in the country to screen for SCID. The lab screens all newborns in Ontario for 29 rare and potentially deadly diseases.
Ontario is the only province in Canada currently screening for SCID, and one of just a handful of jurisdictions around the world.
This new test is expected to save the lives of up to 10 children each year.
