Common variable immunodeficiency (CVID) is a severe immunodeficiency disorder. This means that it’s a disease that leads to a lack of normal immune cells and antibodies. In CVID, the lacking cells are a special type of white blood cell called B-cells. These B-cells cannot produce antibodies, and thus a person with CVID gets sick more often, more easily, and more severely than most people do.
CVID is different than other immunodeficiencies in that it usually manifests in teenagers and young adults (unlike other immunodeficiencies that show up from birth). Still, CVID can lead to very problematic diseases like bronchiectasis (a condition where your airways – bronchi – are significantly damaged and widened), frequent coughs and colds, and even increased risk of lymphoma.
The symptoms of CVID are primarily related to the infections it causes:
CVID symptoms vary in severity. Some people have mild CVID, and others have life-threatening disease.
Not all cases of CVID have a known cause. However, about 10% of people with CVID have a known genetic abnormality that leads to their disease. In general, CVID is believed to be caused by genes as well as environmental factors, although the exact environmental factors have not been discovered yet.
The risk factors of CVID are not well understood. We do know that people with hereditary CVID can pass it down to their offspring.
We also know that people with other immunodeficiencies are more likely to have CVID or have CVID develop in their children.
Autoimmune Lymphoproliferative Syndrome (ALPS)
Caspase Eight Deficiency State (CEDS)
CARD9 Deficiency And Other Syndromes Of Susceptibility To Candidiasis
Chronic Granulomatous Disease (CGD)
Congenital Neutropenia Syndromes
Hyper-Immunoglobulin E Syndromes
Hyper-Immunoglobulin M Syndromes
Interferon Gamma, Interleukin 12 And Interleukin 23 Deficiencies
Leukocyte Adhesion Deficiency (LAD)
PLCG2-Associated Antibody Deficiency And Immune Dysregulation (PLAID)
Severe Combined Immunodeficiency (SCID)
STAT3 Dominant Negative Disease (STAT3DN)
STAT3 Gain-Of-Function Disease (STAT3 GOF)
Warts, Hypogammaglobulinemia, Infections, And Myelokathexis (WHIM) Syndrome
Wiskott-Aldrich Syndrome (WAS)
X-Linked Agammaglobulinemia (XLA)
X-Linked Lymphoproliferative Disease (XLP)
Immunodeficiency Disease Medications
CVID is a complex disorder that may sometimes take years to be diagnosed. Usually, diagnosis occurs by the process of elimination, where doctors analyse how a person with CVID responds to vaccines and treatments that would cure other diseases. If the treatment or vaccine does not work for you, or if your illness continues to come back soon after it was treated, this is a hint to your doctor that you may have an immunodeficiency. The immunodeficiency prevents your body from fighting the illness properly, which may prolong it or cause it to keep coming back.
Ultimately, after CVID is suspected, your doctor can confirm the diagnosis by taking samples of your blood. The samples are then analysed to count the number and type of white blood cells within them. If specific B cells and antibodies are low or absent, this supports the diagnosis of CVID.
CVID is not a disease that can be cured, it is a life-long condition. However, it can be well managed with injections of immunoglobulins (aka antibodies) that can replace the antibodies that your B-cells do not naturally produce. With the addition of these antibodies, your ability to fight infection goes up and the likelihood of getting frequent illnesses goes down.
For any infections that you do get, your doctor will prescribe the appropriate antibiotics or antiviral medication to help you fight against it.