Ti Gong

An 8-month-old girl received a stem cell transplant on Monday at a local hospital to treat a rare congenital disease, marking the 4,000th stem cell transplant conducted by the Shanghai-based China Stem Cell Group Co.

The girl, a Hunan Province native, suffers a genetic disorder called severe combined immunodeficiency, which is known as the bubble boy disease because its victims are likely to suffer infection and some, such as David Vetter, become famous for living in an extremely sterile environment.

The disease usually results in serious infections within the first few months upon delivery, and most children die within one year due to infection. Stem cell transplant is an effective way to treat the disease which helps rebuild their immune system, according to doctors from the Children’s Hospital of Fudan University.

“We have treated 30 such cases and 80 percent of the patients have survived. There is a big hope that the patient can be cured after a successful stem cell transplant,” said Dr Qian Xiaowen from the hospital.

The girl’s family said they are blessed that the girl may be saved.

“My daughter started to have frequent fevers when she was 4 months old and was confirmed to have the rare disease later,” said the father, surnamed Zhang. “We are so happy we found a match at the umbilical cord blood bank. If everything goes smoothly, my daughter is expected to be discharged in late April.”