Overview

• She says an immunologist diagnosed Common Variable Immunodeficiency when she was 12 after years of recurrent respiratory and gastrointestinal infections.
• CVID involves insufficient antibody production, affects roughly one in 25,000 people, and increases vulnerability to infections.
• The Deutsche Gesellschaft für Immundefekte notes the condition is not curable, though immunoglobulin replacement can reduce infections and support immune function.
• Mathilda describes frequent antibiotics, missed school, and limited social life as she weighed everyday activities against the risk of falling ill.
• After studying neuroscience with a focus on psychoneuroimmunology in Los Angeles, she reports beginning a funded neuroscience PhD at the University of Oxford in June.