Question

1. Martin received a killed (inactivated) polio vaccine. Had he received a live attenuated polio vaccine instead, he would have developed poliomyelitis. Fortunately, Martin escaped being given any live vaccines before he was diagnosed. In many countries (not the U.S.), infants are universally given Bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG), an attenuated (weakened) form of the tuberculosis bacteria, which provides partial protection against tuberculosis infection. BCG incites a cell-mediated immune response and after received it, infants become tuberculin-positive (which means they show a hypersensitivity response to tuberculin protein, showing that the individual has antibodies against tuberculin antigen). What do you think happens to infants with SCID who are given BCG?
2. Although transplantation of maternal bone marrow cells resulted in successful T cell reconstitution, martin remained unable to produce antibodies. What could be causing this result and is an alternative therapy for reconstituting immune function in Martin?

Answer 1