Medical staff carry a cylinder containing the hematopoietic stem cells from the China Stem Cell Group. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

An 8-month-old girl who had severe combined immune deficiency (SCID) underwent a successful hematopoietic stem cell transplant surgery in Shanghai on March 4. The stem cell was taken from umbilical cord blood.

The operation, which took place at the Children’s Hospital of Fudan University, was the 4,000th case completed globally by the China Stem Cell Group – a cord blood station headquartered in Shanghai.

The baby girl, identified by the hospital as Ranbao, started to develop symptoms including cough, fever, swollen lymph node and lung infection soon after she was born in July. Her parents took her to the hospitals in Hunan province and Chongqing municipality but were not able to determine the cause.