(MENAFN- Khaleej Times)

A two-month-old Pakistani baby girl has made a remarkable recovery in Abu Dhabi after undergoing an emergency bone marrow transplant to treat a rare and severe immune disorder.

Ayra was critically ill when she was transferred to Yas Clinic Khalifa City, after weeks of treatment at another hospital. Doctors said she had been on a ventilator and battling severe chest and bloodstream infections that kept returning despite intensive care.

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Further tests revealed the reason for the repeated infections: a congenital immunodeficiency, a rare condition in which babies are born without the ability to fight infections. Her parents told doctors they had earlier lost a one-and-a-half-year-old daughter to a similar undiagnosed condition.

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By the time Ayra arrived in Abu Dhabi, she was fighting three simultaneous infections, needed medications to maintain blood pressure and was showing signs of organ stress.

Doctors found that her father was a full HLA (Human Leukocyte Antigen) match, a requirement for bone marrow donation. However, Ayra was too sick to receive the usual chemotherapy that prepares the body for a transplant.

Dr Mansi Sachdev, clinical lead and consultant of Paediatric Haematology, Oncology and Bone Marrow Transplant, said the team had very little time.“The only way to save her life was to perform an urgent bone marrow transplant,” she said.“Because she was so sick, she could not receive chemotherapy. We relied entirely on her father's healthy cells to help her fight off the infections.”

The procedure, carried out without standard preparation, is considered rare and high-risk but was the only viable option.

Two months after the transplant, doctors say the infant is breathing on her own, feeding well and expected to be discharged soon. All three viral infections have cleared.

Dr Maysoon Al Karam, chief medical officer, said the case illustrates the importance of early diagnosis and coordinated specialist care.

She said the child's improvement“shows what timely intervention and careful multidisciplinary management can achieve in extremely fragile patients.”

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