Bubble boy disease refers to one of several genetic disorders that manifest as an inability by the body to produce T cells and B cells that battle infection or illness. Someone afflicted with this type of disorder has an immune system which functions so poorly it is typically considered to be effectively absent.

Someone with bubble boy disease does not ultimately die from the disease itself. Much like auto immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), a secondary infection or illness will ultimately cause the person’s death. With modern medical treatment, however, bubble boy disease can be fought and there is a decent chance of recovery through gene therapy, stem cell treatments, or bone marrow transplant.

The term “bubble boy disease” stems primarily from cases of the disorder in which the person afflicted with the illness was forced to live in a plastic bubble to avoid germs and viruses. A boy named David Vetter was the first “bubble boy” and was the person for whom the term was coined. He was born with the genetic disorder in 1971 and spent nearly the entirety of his life within a series of rooms separated from others by sheets of plastic. Unfortunately, he died in 1984 after a bone marrow transplant in which a dormant virus, which could not be found using screening practices of the time, was introduced into his system and spread like cancer throughout his body.