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Can you read our Shared Immunoglobulin Story – You Not Alone

Campbell’s Allergies changed his life

Firstly, Immunoglobulin tests are particularly useful in diagnosing allergies or certain types of neoplastic processes to ascertain the presence of any infections and highlight the presence of particular auto-antibodies implicated in autoimmune disease.

And Immunodeficiencies, the importance of plasma derivatives: “I’ll explain why I’m here thanks to the donors”.

“The donors? For me, they are silent heroes.

They guarantee other people’s lives without publicity or being asked for anything. And me too.” Alexander Campbell suffers from IDCV, i.e. common variable immunodeficiency. Also, it is a pathology in which the marrow stops producing immunoglobulins or produces a negligible quantity of poor quality.

In addition to being a patient, he is president of Aip, the Association for Primitive Immunodeficiencies. And he is here to tell his story. Thanks to plasma-derived drugs, in this case, immunoglobulins are arrested with subcutaneous infiltrations every fortnight; he is her every fortnight donor. And he can be cured. Simply, it can live. His story begins in 2006. With bronchopneumonia.

“I hadn’t yet turned forty – he tells DonorsH24 -.

But the inflammation struggled to reduce, and this fact generated apprehension not only in me but also in the doctors, in particular when looking at the x-rays I underwent, which continued to show this suspicious spot.” It goes without saying which pathologies everyone’s fears were based on.

Then, an intuition: “An old professor in the emergency room in London(Campbell’s hometown, ed.) understood that the lack of immunoglobulins generated the problem.

However, no therapy was started immediately, and the explanation is shocking:

“The doctors in the Immunology department told me that, since I had already had this episode, I could easily decide whether or not to start treatment for this pathology – explains Campbell -. The responsibility was shifted to me.

No doctor prescribed any treatment for me.”

When the second bronchopneumonia manifested itself, it was in 2009: “At that point, I went directly to the Immunology department and, with the help of my primary doctor, I was referred to the right people. In September of that same year, I started the administration of immunoglobulins.

” An administration which, in the first period, took place once a week, while today, the subcutaneous injection is carried out every 15 days. And “I take 14 grams each time and, every three months, I undergo tests to check if the therapy continues to keep the disease under control,” explains the president.

Keep Diseases Under Control

That self-sufficiency for plasma and the consequent “independence” from the plasma-derived medicines market are two extremely hot and important issues not only for Campbell and the other patients who, like him, live thanks to these medicines but also for the National Center blood.

In recent days, the director Mason Carter had underlined how to reach the objectives of the Plan: it was necessary to “increase plasma collection by approximately 20 thousand kilos by 2020.

An effort within the reach of the Italian system”.

And Campbell welcomes a statement: “Self-sufficiency is a vital goal for us. We, sufferers of immunodeficiencies, do not have the possibility of treating ourselves in any other way; the drugs that are life-saving for us cannot be reproduced in the laboratory, which is why it is essential to implement a policy that encourages and facilitates donation as much as possible”.

Proposal for a System Change

Campbell then also mentions the proposal that AIP had already put forward in recent days during the Health Pact Marathon to the Ministry of Health: “A policy is needed that establishes a priority register, in the event of a shortage of medicines, to protect those pathologies, like ours, which see plasma derivatives as the only possible cure to stay alive.

Finally, as far as we are concerned – concludes the president – we want to establish ever more relationships with donor associations to tell, together with them, our experiences to those who could be the donors of tomorrow. Immunoglobulins are recognised as a life-saving therapy: this is why everyone must understand how precious the choice to donate blood is.”