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PI PanelMedical TopicsImmunologist Richard Schiff, M.D., Ph.D.Dr. Schiff is Global Medical Director, Immune Therapy, Baxter Bioscience. How do you catch an immune disease? Can the disease be spread? You can’t catch a primary immune disease. Primary Immune Deficiency (PI) is inherited, which means a person is born with altered genes received from his or her parents. People with PI are vulnerable to viral and bacterial infections, such as colds or sinusitis, and may “give” such an infection to another person, but the PI condition is not contagious. It is important to distinguish this from HIV infection, or AIDS, where the viral infection does destroy the T cells and therefore results in an immune deficiency. Because there is so much public awareness and concern about AIDS, it is important to explain the difference so that people will not be worried that they can become sick. The PI Panel cannot respond to questions about individual medical cases, provide second
opinions or make specific recommendations regarding therapy. The information our experts provide is from their own experiences. Always seek the advice of your own physician or other qualified healthcare professional regarding any medical condition. We will do our best to address as many questions as possible. We will not publish the names of any patients, physicians, or therapies. |
