High mortality of COVID‐19 in children with cancer in a single center in Algiers, Algeria

• Published in: Pediatric Blood & Cancer Vol. 68; no. 6; pp. e28898 - n/a
• Main Authors: Arous, Radjaa, Djillali, Imene Sarah, Rouis, Nassiba Ould, Boudiaf, Houda, Amhis, Wahiba, Ziane, Hanifa, Ladj, Mohamed Samir, Boukari, Rachida
• Format: Journal Article Web Resource
• Language: English
• Published: United States John Wiley & Sons, Inc 01.06.2021; Wiley Subscription Services, Inc; John Wiley and Sons Inc
• Subjects: Adolescent; Algeria - epidemiology; Cancer Care Facilities; Child; Child, Preschool; COVID-19; COVID-19 - complications; COVID-19 - epidemiology; COVID-19 - mortality; Female; Hematology; Humans; Infant; Letter to the Editor; Letters to the Editor; Male; Neoplasms - complications; Neoplasms - epidemiology; Neoplasms - mortality; Oncology; Pediatrics; Risk Factors; SARS-CoV-2 - isolation & purification; Algeria
• ISSN: 1545-5009; 1545-5017
• DOI: 10.1002/pbc.28898

Recent publications suggest that the pediatric oncology population may not have higher mortality resulting from SARS‐CoV‐2 infection in high‐income countries such as Spain, China, USA, Italy, and France.5-9 We present a case series of pediatric oncology patients infected with COVID‐19 in the Pediatric Oncology Department of the University Hospital Mustapha Bachain Algiers during the period from June 1 to August 31, 2020. Patient demographics and clinical characteristics Age (years) ≤2 years 1 ≥ 2 years 6 Sex Male 3 Female 4 Underlying cancer Leukemia 5 Lymphoma 1 Neuroblastoma 1 Symptoms at onset Fever Cough 4 Diarrhea 2 Seizure 1 Skin lesions 1 Hospitalization status Not admitted 3 Admitted 4 Oxygen requirement None 4 Low‐flow oxygen 1 High‐flow oxygen 2 Deaths 2 The most frequent symptoms were fever and cough (four cases), followed by diarrhea (two cases), skin lesions (one case), and seizures (one case); three patients were asymptomatic. Two patients experienced complications of the viral disease and died: the first patient was treated for a relapse of acute lymphoid leukemia (ALL) after allogenic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation and developed severe respiratory distress and seizure; the second patient, with refractory ALL, had previously been given intensive chemotherapy and developed rapid respiratory deterioration.