How many people in Germany have a congenital immunodeficiency that makes them particularly susceptible to infectious diseases? And which of the approximately 200 known forms of immunodeficiencies do they have? In order to be able to answer such questions, data on patients have been collected since 2009 in the German National Register for Primary Immunodeficiencies (PID-NET). Professor Dr. Bodo Grimbacher, Centre for Chronic Immunodeficiency at the University Hospital of Freiburg, and his team have now analysed data of approximately 2,400 patients and published them in the scientific journal “Frontiers in Immunology”. The results of this study lay an important basis for further research in the RESIST Cluster of Excellence.
On average, 2.7 of 100,000 inhabitants have a congenital immune deficiency. More than half of them have too few functioning antibodies. A further 22 percent show immune dysregulation – often an autoimmune disease. The first symptoms, mainly infections, can occur at any time in the course of a lifetime – from birth to late adulthood. “The results will ultimately lead to faster diagnoses and better treatments,” says Professor Grimbacher.
You can find the original publication here.
