In Ukraine, the provision of medical care to patients with immunodeficiencies has been strengthened – the sectoral standard “Common Variable Immunodeficiency” has been approved.
The standard defines the organization of medical care, diagnosis, treatment, and the specifics of vaccination of patients diagnosed with “Common Variable Immunodeficiency” (CVID). The document is based on evidence-based medicine data and the relevant clinical guideline adapted to the healthcare system of Ukraine on the basis of the clinical guideline Treatment and management of primary antibody deficiency: German interdisciplinary evidence-based consensus guideline (2020).
The standard consolidates the efforts of medical specialists of various specialties, primarily immunologists, regarding the early detection of signs of immunodeficiency in adults and children, timely diagnosis, prescription of lifelong replacement maintenance therapy with immunoglobulins, and subsequent comprehensive treatment and follow-up.
CVID belongs to the group of primary immunodeficiencies and is characterized by impaired B-cell differentiation with defective production of immunoglobulins. Besides a susceptibility to infectious diseases, patients with CVID suffer from severe autoimmune diseases or malignant neoplasms. To sustain life, they require continuous immunoglobulin replacement therapy, which makes it possible to reduce the burden of recurrent infections and subsequent complications.
According to the reports of the chief specialists in pediatric and clinical immunology, the number of patients with an established diagnosis of CVID in Ukraine is about 80 patients, among the adult population – 74. These data are largely underestimated owing to underdiagnosis at various levels of medical care. Given the prevalence of the diagnosis (1:50 000), the number of such patients in Ukraine may exceed 900 persons.
