What can be done to prevent the disease?

Hunter syndrome cannot be prevented once a child has been conceived. Genetic counseling may be helpful to couples with a family history of the disease.

What are the long-term effects of the disease?

A person with the mild type of Hunter syndrome develops heart disease and deafness. He or she may become immobile because of stiff joints, and develop degenerative hip disease.

A person with the severe type usually doesn't live past the second or third decade of life. By then, he or she will have mental retardation and joint stiffness.

What are the risks to others?

Hunter syndrome is not contagious. A male with Hunter syndrome must pass on the gene to his daughters. However, they are not affected. An affected male cannot pass on the gene to his sons. A carrier female may pass on the gene to her sons or daughters. Her sons who get the gene will be affected. Her daughters who get the gene will be carriers like her. Genetic counseling may be useful for affected people and their relatives.