(Lecture) "The Boy in the Bubble" Movie

1. What is SCID, and how does it lead to death?

Severe Combined Immuno Deficiency=SCID

-a genetic disease 

-no immune system- so any germ can kill you

-only affects males

2. What was one doctor’s bold new idea to address SCID in the 1970’s?

 Place infants at risk for SCID in a sterile plastic bubble immediately after birth until they can be tested for disease

 If they end up having disease then give them a bone marrow transplant for new immune system

3. Why did the plan not work for David?

-bc David’s older sister was not a bone marrow match 

4. When David was 18months old, what choices faced the doctors regarding his condition?

- they thought about removing David from bubble and letting disease run its natural course, because there were no treatments at the time and the bubble was originally a temporary not permanent structure 

-they decided to leave him in the bubble 

5. How did David become a research subject, and did this benefit science?

- bc doctors performed experiments/tests on him to understand the disease

-plus they kept him in a bubble

- Yes, research benefited science, learned:

- how SCID was caused

- that viruses can lead to cancer

- what germ free blood was like

- what isolation does to children 

6. How did the doctors control his behavior when he tired to poke holes in the bubble?

- They made him aware of the dangers presented by the outside world

-ie. they told him how microbes would kill him

7. Why did David’s special suit not work?

- bc he was afraid of getting in suit bc he didn’t want germs to get him

8. As David grew older and more aware of his situation, how did he respond psychologically?

- Depression, anxiety, distant, fearful, nightmares

9.What new hope was there for David at age 12?

- Experimental bone marrow transplant from non match ie. his sister could now donate her bone marrow even though it wasn’t a perfect match

10, How did David die?

-after receiving experimental bone marrow transplant, his body grew various cancerous tumors because his sisters bone marrow contained a dormant virus

-lead to discovery that viruses can cause cancer