Weekend Argus (Saturday Edition)
Mom’s little walking miracle
HE IS not only a brave little warrior who never gives up, but also a winner who has overcome a number of hurdles in a short space of time.
Meet Aaron Lipschitz from Sea Point, who suffers from interleukin-12 receptor defect – which means his cells in his immune system don’t communicate effectively.
Diagnosed in 2017, Aaron, 4, has been in and out of hospital since he was two months old. He has been admitted to hospital for numerous procedures and to treat infections more than 50 times. However, friends, family and hospital staff at Mediclinic Cape Town would always make his “second home” as relaxing as possible.
The only food he can take in is water, ice and infant formula, which is fed through a MIC-KEY feeding tube. His intravenous therapy medication and weekly bloods are done through a cardiac port. He has his blood count checked every two weeks.
His mother, Taryn Lipschitz, said it all started in 2015 when they took him to hospital with severe diarrhoea.
“Doctors did tests and X-rays that confirmed he had rotavirus, a viral infection that causes severe diarrhoea in children,” she said.
Since then, Aaron has been in and out of hospital with recurrent infections. In October 2017, he was formally diagnosed with interleukin-12 receptor defect. There is no cure for this disease and Aaron’s only hope of overcoming recurring infections and surviving was to have a bone marrow transplant. In July 2018, they found a 10-out-of-10 match from someone living in another country. One month later, the transplant was done at UCT Private Academic Hospital.
“The first two years were very anxiety-filled as we knew something was wrong, but we didn’t have a definite answer. We had to fight hard for our son and really persevere until a diagnosis was reached. During the transplant we almost lost him, as his body attacked the donor (marrow). He was rushed to Red Cross ICU after he had a rare reaction to the transplant. He is a walking miracle,” she said.
The last time Aaron was in hospital was two weeks ago when he was taken to Mediclinic Cape Town. Doctors found out that he has a bacterial infection called the adenovirus (a viral infection) and respiratory syncytial virus which causes infections of the lungs and respiratory tract.
“He loves to have fun and play with his Lego blocks. He loves people, animals and is very outgoing. He has a rescue dog called Luna and they have a great bond. He is always curious and likes to ask a lot of questions.”
Head of National Health Laboratory Services Immunology Unit at Tygerberg Hospital Professor Monika Esser said the disease Aaron has was a severe infection with salmonella (a common bacterial disease that affects the intestinal tract) in his gut and blood which can be life-threatening.
“He has not suffered from tuberculosis, but that may relate to him not having been exposed to TB. He is also not able to eat regular food, which may relate to another mutation which has not been found yet. We are hoping that the stem cell transplant he received has corrected his immune deficit caused by his genetic condition,” said Esser.
“We have screened similar variants, but very rarely.”