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Definition
By Mayo Clinic staffPrimary immunodeficiency disorders — also called primary immune disorders or primary immunodeficiency — weaken the immune system, allowing repeated infections and other health problems to occur more easily.
Many people with primary immunodeficiency are born missing some of the body's immune defenses, which leaves them more susceptible to germs that can cause infections.
Some forms of primary immunodeficiency are so mild they may go unnoticed for years. Other types of primary immunodeficiency are severe enough that they are discovered almost as soon as an affected baby is born.
Treatments can boost the immune system for many types of primary immunodeficiency disorders. Most people with primary immunodeficiency disorders lead relatively normal, productive lives. Children are able to attend school and play with friends.
- Primary immunodeficiency. Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. http://www.nichd.nih.gov/publications/pubs/Pages/primary_immuno.aspx. Accessed May 20, 2013.
- Blaese R, et al. Patient and Family Handbook for Primary Immunodeficiency Diseases. 4th ed. Towson, Md.: Immune Deficiency Foundation; 2007. http://primaryimmune.org/about-primary-immunodeficiency-diseases/idf-publications/patient-family-handbook. Accessed May 20, 2013.
- Primary immunodeficiency diseases. American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology. http://www.aaaai.org/conditions-and-treatments/primary-immunodeficiency-disease.aspx. Accessed May 20, 2013.
- Papadopoulou-Alataki E, et al. Prevention of infection of children and adolescents with primary immunodeficiency disorders. Asian Pacific Journal of Allergy and Immunology. 2012;30:249.
- Pasternak MS. Approach to the adult with recurrent infections. http://www.uptodate.com/home. Accessed May 20, 2013.
- Bonilla FA. Medical management of immune deficiency. http://www.uptodate.com/home. Accessed May 20, 2013.
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