What are some other ways to describe immune system disorders?
Different kinds of immune system disorders affect a child’s body differently. You may hear these terms from your doctor or others: • Primary Immunodeficiency: In the worst immune system disorders, all or most of a child’s immune system is missing. Since this is a child’s main defense against disease and illness, it can be a very dangerous thing. Such children are said to have a primary immunodeficiency. This condition is sometimes called a PI. There are more than 70 different PIs. Each type has somewhat different symptoms, depending on which parts of the immune defense system are not working. Some PIs are life-threatening while some are more mild. All PI disorders have one thing in common — they open the door to more than one infection at a time. These infections may be severe, long lasting and very hard to cure. Healthy children may get colds, coughs and earaches often. For example, many infants and young children with a normal immune system have one to three ear infections each year
