Incidence of Poliovirus Infection in Patients with Severe Combined Immunodeficiency (SCID)

  • Farimah Fayaz Student Research Committee, Alborz University of Medical Sciences, Karaj, Iran
  • Samin Sharafian Department of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, Mofid Children’s Hospital, Shaheed Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
  • Marzieh Tavakol Non-Communicable Diseases Research Center, Alborz University of Medical Sciences, Karaj, Iran
Keywords: Polio; SCID; Primary Immunodeficiency; Oral Polio Vaccine

Abstract

Background: Severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID) is a group of disorders with impairment in function of T, B and sometimes NK cells that could lead to high susceptibility to infectious diseases and premature death. Live-attenuated vaccines are contraindicated in SCID patients. However, in regions without screening programs for SCID, oral polio vaccine (OPV) could lead to vaccine-derived polioviruses (VDPVs) which are reverted to the neurovirulent virus types and could cause outbreaks of vaccine-associated paralytic poliovirus (VAPP) in communities with inadequate vaccine coverage.

Method: 20 SCID patients registered in Iranian national registry for Primary immunodeficiency (PID) disorders were tested for polio virus stool shedding. The demographic data, clinical presentation, polio test results, laboratory data and whole exome sequencing (WES) of the patients were available.

Results: Among the 20 SCID patients enrolled in the study, 6 patients tested positive for immunodeficiencyrelated VDPVs (iVDPV) shedding. Four patients (20%) had iVDPV type 2, one patient (5%) had iVDPV type 1 and one patient (5%) had iVDPV type 3.

Conclusion: Due to the high possibility of asymptomatic and long-term iVDPV shedding in SCID patients, the enhancement of screening of PID patients for poliovirus and iVDPV excretion is strongly needed.

Published
2022-07-06
Section
Articles