Deborah Johnson practices at Matrix Health in Scottsdale, Arizona, and is an Adjunct Professor of Nursing at Spring Arbor University, Spring Arbor, Michigan.
Scrupulous hand hygiene, careful avoidance of infectious exposures, watchful food handling and preparation, and lifestyle choices that support good general health are key elements of self-care for patients who have CVID. Preventive measures serve this population well by helping to reduce some of the complications of this serious disease.
Patients with CVID should understand keys aspects regarding its diagnosis, treatment, and prognosis. Specifically, they should know that people who have CVID are born missing some of the body’s immune defenses, which increases their risk for infection, especially of the sinuses, lungs, and gut. Sometimes it takes years to make this diagnosis, because it is a rare cause of common symptoms.
In people with CVID, infections are generally harder to resolve and often recur after antibiotic therapy. IgG treatments boost the immune system and help to fight infection as well as limit complications. Most people with CVID lead relatively normal, healthy lives. The disorder is not contagious.
The patient was referred to immunology, and a diagnosis of CVID was made. She was successfully treated with subcutaneous IgG replacement therapy. She died due to overwhelming sepsis after an episode of pneumonia at age 84.
CONCLUSION
The secret to prompt detection of CVID is adding it to the differential diagnosis of recurrent infections. Timely recognition and appropriate referral prevent serious complications, since successful treatment options are available.
