JAK3-deficient severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID) is an inherited disorder of the immune system. Individuals with JAK3-deficient SCID lack the necessary immune cells to fight off certain bacteria, viruses, and fungi. They are prone to repeated and persistent infections that can be very serious or life-threatening. Often the organisms that cause infection in people with JAK3-deficient SCID are described as opportunistic because they ordinarily do not cause illness in healthy people. Affected infants typically develop chronic diarrhea, a fungal infection in the mouth called oral thrush, pneumonia, and skin rashes. Persistent illness also causes affected individuals to grow more slowly than other children. Without treatment, people with JAK3-deficient SCID usually live only into early childhood.

Immunodeficiency-55 is an autosomal recessive primary immunodeficiency characterized by intrauterine growth retardation, natural killer (NK) cell deficiency, and chronic neutropenia. Most patients also have postnatal growth retardation. Other clinical manifestations include mild facial dysmorphism, dry or eczematous skin, and recurrent infections with both viruses and bacteria. The disorder appears to result from a defect in DNA replication causing blockade of immune cell differentiation in the bone marrow, particularly affecting NK cells (summary by Cottineau et al., 2017).