One year more, the campaign of Vall d'Hebron and the Barcelona PID Foundation "Bufa la Bombolla!" ("Blow the Bubble!") promotes research in primary immunodeficiencies (PID) by the research group on Infection in Immunocompromised Pediatric Patients of the Vall d'Hebron Research Institute (VHIR) thanks to the selling of solidarity bubble bottles. With this objective, on this occasion 4,992 units have been sold in SORLI establishments, which have raised 12,480€.

The economic donations through the "Bufa la Bombolla!" campaign allow to continue with the research led by the advanced testing laboratory in IDP of VHIR inaugurated in 2019, where all the experiments that come out of the care or routine umbrella of the hospital are carried out. The aim of the research is to deepen the mechanisms of the disease and evaluate the pathogenicity of mutations found in patients with PID without a conclusive genetic diagnosis.

"Having this kind of contributions allows us to launch different research projects, as well as the incorporation of research personnel in training in the field of PID", says Dr. Pere Soler, head of the Paediatric Infectious Diseases and Immunodeficiencies Unit at Vall d'Hebron University Hospital, head of the Infection in Immunocompromised Pediatric Patients group at VHIR and president of the Barcelona PID Foundation. "It is very important to have a space where this research in PID can be carried out in order to reach the diagnosis of the most complex cases and to guide the treatment of these patients", explains Alba Parra Martinez, predoctoral researcher of the Infection in Immunocompromised Pediatric Patients group at VHIR.

Barcelona PID Foundation, founded in 2014, works to promote the knowledge of primary immunodeficiencies by society, promote research and care for patients with these diseases and their families. The action programs it carries out range from providing psychosocial support to children and their families, to promoting the creation of a biobank with genetic samples that allow national and international studies to be carried out or providing scholarships to resident doctors and doctors in training, among many others.

According to Carlota Villar, vice-president of the BCN PID Foundation and mother of a child with primary immunodeficiency, "collaborations like these help us to promote research and care for the welfare of PID patients and their families through psychosocial care projects at all stages of the disease".

“Bufa la Bombolla!” campaign

The "Bufa la bombolla!" initiative was born in 2017 thanks to the parents of Martina, an eight-year-old girl from Malgrat de Mar with primary immunodeficiency. Since then, the campaign has boosted research in PID thanks to the donations raised, in addition to promoting awareness of these diseases.

"I am especially grateful to Hospital Vall d'Hebron and the PID Foundation for having promoted this project for the research of pediatric primary immunodeficiencies and for having thought of Sorli to carry out the "Bufa la Bombolla!” campaign", says Anna Sorli, administrator of the Sorli Group. She also remarks and thanks clients for their participation in the project through the economic contributions made with the purchase of the bubble bottles.

To publicize the campaign, it has been essential the participation of citizens through social networks using the hashtag #BufaLaBombolla to publicize these diseases and get as much financial support as possible.