THE OUTCOME OF SARS-COV2 INFECTION AMONG CHILDREN WITH CANCER IN SULAIMANIYAH PROVINCE, IRAQ

Volume 13 , Issue 1 , March 2023 , Pages 49-55

Authors

Khanda Muhammed Abdulla 1 ; Khalid Hama Salih 1 ; Bakir Rahim Rashid 1

1 College of Medicine-University of Sulaimani, Kurdistan Region, Iraq.

DOI logo 10.17656/jsmc.10396

Keywords

Abstract

Background
The most significant and pervasive health issue faced the globe during the last 2years was coronavirus disease
2019 (COVID-19), caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV2). Patients
diagnosed with childhood cancer may have impaired immune systems due to their illness or therapy, increasing
their vulnerability to COVID-19 infection.
Objectives
To determine the outcome of COVID-19 in children with malignancy who received chemotherapy, explain
characteristic features, and assess the severity of COVID-19 among haematological vs oncological malignancies
Patients and Methods
This Retro-prospective cohort study was carried out in the Hiwa oncology Hospital in the Sulaimaniyah
governorate from November 2021 to February 2022 on 70 children with cancer using PCR to confirm their
COVID-19 infection (60 haematological cases and ten oncological cases).
Results
Among the total 70 patients involved in the study, 52.9% were males, 47.1% were females, and their mean age
was 8.83 ± 4.3. About sixty-two (90%) cases had haematological malignancies, and 8(10%) had oncological
malignancies. The most predominant symptom was fever (82.9%), followed by cough (67.1%). On the other
hand, 58 (82.9%) cases had mild disease, and 8 (11.4%) had the moderate disease. Chest x-ray infiltration was
found in 12 (17.1%) cases; 14 (20.0%) children needed hospital admission, only 1 (1.4%) case required intensive
care unit (ICU) admission, and 6 (8.6%) patients needed O2 therapy. Sixty-seven children recovered from
COVID-19, and three children died.
Conclusion
Most children with cancer (CwC) had mild infections and were outpatients with benign outcomes.
Haematological malignancies, especially acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL), are the commonest
malignancies among COVID-19 patients. Most COVID-19 patients were symptomatic, with fever and cough
being the predominant symptoms.

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  • Published at21 March 2023

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